Texas State Democrats Break Quorum, Leave State Amid Redistricting Vote
Last month, the Texas state legislature began the unusual process of a mid-decade redistricting effort ahead of the 2026 midterms. In an effort to combat what critics have called blatant gerrymandering, Texas Democrats have broken quorum and fled the state to stall the vote on the new map.
According to NBC News, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker joined Texas Democrats during a press conference on Sunday. Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu told reporters that 57 Democratic legislators have left the state, with the majority staying in Illinois for the foreseeable future. In addition to Illinois, several Texas Democrats went to Albany, New York, and Boston.
“Gov. Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump so that Donald Trump can steal these communities’ power and voice,” Wu told reporters. “We will not be complicit in the destruction of our own communities. We’re not here to play political games. We’re here to demand an end to this corrupt process.”
The situation began when Gov. Abbott called a special legislative session under the pretense of flood relief. It quickly became apparent after the session began that the focus would instead be on drafting a new electoral map. Mid-decade redistricting is highly unusual, as it normally happens every 10 years to incorporate new Census data. Texas’s redistricting effort comes at the behest of President Trump, who’s seeking to maintain the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives. State Republicans revealed the new map last week, which will potentially give the GOP five new House seats.
“For two weeks, while families in the Hill Country mourned the loss of over 130 Texans in catastrophic floods, Democrats fought to make their relief the legislature’s top priority. Instead, Governor Abbott and Republican leadership used the tragedy as political cover,” Texas House Democrats said in a statement Sunday. “Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.”
It’s worth noting that through all this, there has been virtually no movement on legislation to provide relief for the Texans still reeling from the devastating floods that killed over 100 people during the Fourth of July weekend.
Gov. Abbott threatened to fine the state Democrats for every day they don’t show up to work and charge them with felonies if they solicit funds to pay for said fines. “I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons,” Abbott said in a statement. It’s interesting Gov. Abbott is acting like he cares about felonies, considering this whole situation began at the whims of noted convicted felon, Donald Trump.
Abbott is threatening to remove the state Democrats from the House under a non-binding 2021 legal opinion by the Texas attorney general suggesting a court can determine whether a legislator forfeited their office. The state Democrats issued a curt response to Gov. Abbott’s threats: “Come and take it.”
Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones, one of the Texas lawmakers who left for New York, told AP that Gov. Abbott is overplaying his hand and has no actual legal recourse. “He has no legal mechanism,” she said. “Subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York, so he can’t come and get us. Subpoenas in Texas don’t work in Chicago. … He’s putting up smoke and mirrors.”
The Texas redistricting effort has had national consequences as several Democratic governors are considering launching their own redistricting efforts. California Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly requested that the state’s independent commission begin drafting new maps, and the New York state legislature has introduced a bill that would allow them to begin a mid-decade redistricting if another state did it first.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stood beside several of the Texas Democrats who left for New York. “We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern-day stagecoach heist by a bunch of law breaking cowboys,” Gov. Hochul said on Monday alongside several of the lawmakers who fled.
“If Republicans are willing to rewrite rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us with no choice: We must do the same. You have to fight fire with fire,” she said.
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