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Penn Law alumnus Eric Johnson L’03 elected mayor of Dallas, TX

June 10, 2019

Eric Johnson L'05
Eric Johnson L’05
A Dallas native, he is currently serving his fifth term as representative of Dallas-based District 100.

This article has been updated to reflect the results of the June 8 election. 

After serving in the Texas House of Representatives for nine years, Eric Johnson L’03 has now been elected to a different office: Mayor of Dallas. This spring, the Penn Law alumnus was one of nine original candidates seeking to assume leadership of Dallas, the ninth-largest city in the United States. Because none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan May 4 municipal election, the two top contenders — Johnson and Scott Griggs — competed runoff election on June 8.

Johnson won the election by roughly 15 percentage points. He will be inaugurated on June 17. 

After graduating from Penn Law in 2003, Johnson embarked on a career in private law practice. Most recently, he was Of Counsel with the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLC, where he focused his practice on public law matters. Johnson, who also holds a Masters in Public Administration from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, first entered into government in 2010 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. A Dallas native, he is currently serving his fifth term as representative of Dallas-based District 100. As a state legislator, he has championed full-day prekindergarten and stronger ethics laws.

“My legal education and work as an attorney specializing in municipal finance have prepared me well to serve the city I love,” Johnson said. “Voters respond well to the fact that I graduated from some of the finest institutions in the country, including Penn Law, and I also have the political experience to get things done. I am honored to have this opportunity to serve the people of Dallas — a city that has given me so much in life.”