Renard Johnson

Renard U. Johnson (born July 28, 1966) is an American politician serving as the 53rd mayor of El Paso, Texas. Johnson assumed the mayor's office on January 6, 2025. He is the first black mayor of El Paso.

Early life and education Johnson was born in Chicago to Alvin and Louise Johnson and moved to El Paso with his family when he was seven months old. He grew up in Northeast El Paso, graduating from Andress High School in 1984 and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Johnson was named an Andress outstanding ex and in 2015, he was named a distinguished alumnus from the Woody L. Hunt School of Business at UTEP.

In 2020, Johnson founded a second business, El Perro Grande Tequila. The tequila comes in a bottle shaped like a Chihuahua dog and is decorated with images that reflect El Paso, including the iconic star on the Franklin Mountains, the number 915, which is the city's area code, and the phrase "El Chuco", which is the nickname for El Paso that originated with the city being the birthplace of the Pachuco culture of the 1930s.

Johnson also built and owns Franklin Avenue Apartments, a 14-unit apartment building, located near Southwest University Park in downtown El Paso. He twice served as interim CEO of Trellis. Johnson was one of eight mayoral candidates in the November 5, 2024 general election and finished first with 32.5% of the vote. In a run-off election on December 14, 2024, Johnson defeated city representative Brian Kennedy, winning 56% of the vote in a low-turnout election.

Immigration In October 2025, Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote that would have enabled the El Paso City Council to negotiate a memorandum of understanding and leased spaced at the El Paso International Airport with the Transportation Security Administration. The city council's effort came in response to a TSA video featuring Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, criticizing the Democratic Party for a government shutdown. In February 2026, Johnson criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to temporarily close the airspace over El Paso, citing the lack of communication and coordination with local officials.

Electoral history

General election for mayor of El Paso, November 5, 2024 + Party Johnson's brother is businessman Timothy Johnson, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2024 for operating a pyramid scheme by claiming he was a promoter for the National Basketball Association. Renard Johnson stated he is estranged from Timothy Johnson.