>> Continued From the Previous Page <<
“It appears to be that New York wants to be the heartbeat of socialism in the United States,” Johnson said. “But down here in Dallas, I can tell you, we embrace business, we embrace capitalism, we embrace corporations who employ folks and who are actually pillars of our communities.”
The numbers back up his claims. Between 2018 and 2024, the Dallas-Fort Worth area attracted 100 corporate headquarters—the most of any U.S. metro region during that period, according to CBRE. Austin followed with 81 relocations, and Nashville trailed at 35. Meanwhile, New York continues to lose businesses, joining California cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego in hemorrhaging corporate HQs. In 2024 alone, 12 of California’s 17 lost headquarters relocated to Texas.
High-profile corporations are already staking their claim in Dallas. Goldman Sachs is building an 800,000-square-foot campus to accommodate over 5,000 employees, joining a wave of companies fleeing New York’s heavy taxes and strict regulations. Dallas offers them an appealing alternative: no state income tax, lower cost of living, fewer regulations, and a local government that champions law enforcement.
“We support law enforcement here in Dallas. We support law and order. I don’t think you can have a city if you don’t have safety,” Johnson said. “I don’t understand the impulse some of these Democrat mayors have to embrace lawlessness.”
New York’s ambitious socialist policies come with enormous price tags. Free buses are projected to cost $800 million annually, while the proposed rent freeze would affect roughly one million apartments—half the city’s rental market. Universal childcare could require billions in funding, with no concrete plan beyond taxing the wealthy and punishing corporations.
City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, whose family fled the Soviet Union, expressed alarm at the developments. “We became doctors, we became lawyers. I’m a member of the government in the largest city in the world, and the idea that everything we escaped is coming here is absolutely unbelievable,” she said.
Even local business leaders are sounding the alarm. Grocery chain owner John Catsimatidis warned he might relocate his Gristedes stores entirely if Mamdani follows through with his policies. The mayor also faces a $380 million budget shortfall and will need approval from Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to raise taxes. Hochul, facing a 2026 reelection bid, has already expressed hesitation about hiking income taxes.
Mamdani, however, remains defiant. “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” he told supporters at his inauguration.
Johnson sees New York’s stubbornness as an opportunity. “The answer is there is a flood and an avalanche of interest in being where I think people who do this for a living, folks in the financial services industry, understand that the future of capitalism in this country is moving west,” he said.
As New York doubles down on socialism, Dallas positions itself as the new capital for businesses, workers, and investors who still believe in the American Dream. Wall Street is already dialing Texas, and the financial map of the nation may never look the same again.
