Talarico says he is 'willing' to break quorum to prevent redistricting

AUSTIN (KXAN) — State Rep. James Talarico signaled he is open to breaking quorum to block Republican's redistricting efforts, calling the move a "last resort."

"I'm certainly willing to do that if we get to that point," Talarico said in conversation with KXAN's Will DuPree. "Breaking quorum is an extreme step, and it's not something that should be taken lightly."

Just hours before, Texas Republicans unveiled their proposed congressional map, which could help the GOP pick up five seats in the U.S. Congress. The redrawn maps primarily target Democrats in the Austin, Houston and Dallas metro areas.

Redistricting typically occurs every 10 years, with the Texas legislature using census data to update the congressional map. But after an intense pressure campaign from D.C., where President Donald Trump hopes to add to the Republican congressional majority, Texas Republicans are bucking precedent to update the maps in the middle of the decade.

"It's essentially trying to rig the rules of the game in the middle of the game," Talarico said. "It's like coming out of the locker room at halftime and the team that's ahead says they wanted to change the rules so they can stay ahead. It's been confirmed — this is a power grab through and through," he said.

At Friday's redistricting hearing, State Rep. Todd Hunter did not shy away from defending Republican's political approach to redrawing the maps.

"You can draw districts based on political performance, political partisanship. That is recognized by the United States Supreme Court," he said, in an apparent reference to Rucho v. Common Cause. The 2019 Supreme Court case found that the courts could not regulate partisan redistricting, instead placing the onus on state legislatures to regulate the efforts.

"This is completely transparent, and it's lawful," Hunter said.

Talarico, who is rumored to be eyeing a 2026 Senate run, recently introduced a bill to switch Texas to an independent redistricting commission. This would shift Texas' redistricting system away from the current partisan process.

"This is not a partisan issue," he said. "You have people in power, the politicians check the will of the public, and that's not how this country is supposed to operate. It's not how this democracy is supposed to operate."

"Every single state in the Union should have an independent citizen led redistricting commission so that we take the power to draw political maps out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of the people we seek to represent," he added.