Texas Democrats take extreme measures to block the districts redistribution vote

The Democrats in the Texas Chamber left the State on Sunday in a last resort offer to block the new Maps of the Congress requested by President Donald Trump that would give Republicans a better opportunity to preserve their close majority of the United States Chamber in the mid -term elections of 2026.

The dramatic revolt occurred before the State Chamber controlled by the Republican Party voted on Monday about the proposed maps, which would give Republicans five most ganiable seats in Congress. In response to the rare political Gerrymander of the Texas decade, Democratic governors have raised the possibility of re -drawing the maps of their own state in retaliation, but their options are limited.

Many of the Texas Democrats were destined for Illinois and a welcome from Governor JB Pritzker, a 2028 presidential contender potential, who in recent weeks has offered them support. It was not clear how long they were prepared to stay out of Texas or if the gambit would succeed; Four years ago, the Democrats of the House of Representatives left Texas for 38 days in protest of the new voting restrictions that were still happening once the holdout ended.

“This is not a decision that we make lightly, but it is one that we take with absolute moral clarity,” said Representative Gene Wu, president of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives, in a statement.

Alex Wong through Getty Images

To carry out official businesses, at least 100 members of the Texas house of 150 members must be present. Democrats have 62 of the seats in the majority-republican chamber. At least 51 Democratic members leave the State, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesman for the Chamber’s Democratic Caucus.

“Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of the working communities that have been fighting for the power Trump wants to steal,” he said.

The measure marks the second time in four years that Texas Democrats have fled the State to block a vote. In 2021, a 38 -day confrontation took place when the Democrats went to Washington in opposition to the new voting restrictions.

Republican governor Greg Abbott called a special session of the legislature that began last month to make the district redistribution effort, as well as to respond to floods in Texas Hill Country that killed at least 135 people in July. Trump has urged Texas Republicans to draw the map again to help the game get a handful of seats mid -week next year.

Last week, Texas Republicans presented their new planned map of the United States Chamber that would create five new Republican seats. Republicans currently have 25 of the 38 seats in the state.

Via News

The state of the vote now

Legislators cannot approve invoices in the Texas Chamber of 150 members without at least two thirds of them. The Democrats have 62 of the seats in the majority-republican chamber and at least 51 abandoned the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesman for the democratic Caucus of the Chamber. In addition to the Illinois group, five legislators went to New York and another group went to Boston, said Rush Nisenson.

Republican president of the House of Representatives, Dustin Burrows, said the camera would still meet as planned Monday afternoon.

“If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent points of conversation of some of my Democratic colleagues, all options will be on the table …”, he published in X.

Republican attorney general Ken Paxton, who is postulated to the United States Senate, said in X that the Democrats who “try to flee as cowards must be found, arrested and returned to the Capitol immediately.”

A refusal of Texas legislators to present is a civil violation of the legislative rules. The Supreme Court of Texas held in 2021 that the leaders of the House of Representatives had the authority to physically force the assistance “of the missing members, but no year back to the State they were not taken to the Democrats to the State after arrest orders were delivered that year. Two years later, Republicans promoted new rules that allow daily fines of $ 500 for legislators who do not appear to work as punishment.

Republican governor’s office Greg Abbott did not immediately respond to comments requests on Sunday.

Break quorum will also delay votes in flood relief systems and new warning following the catastrophic floods last month in Texas that killed at least 136 people. The Democrats had asked votes on the response of the floods before assuming the redistribution of districts and have criticized the Republicans for not doing so.

Last week, Texas Republicans presented their new planned map of the United States Chamber that would create five new Republican seats. Republicans currently have 25 of the 38 seats in the state.

Illinois hosts flee from Texas legislators

Pritzker, who has been one of Trump’s most open critics during his second term, had been in quiet conversations with Texas Democrats for weeks about offering support if they chose to leave the state to break the quorum.

Last week, the governor received several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the redistribution effort of districts, and the governor of California Gavin Newsom celebrated a similar event in his own state.

Pritzker also met privately with Texas Democratic president, Kendall Scudder, in June, to begin planning the possibility that legislators will be separated towards Illinois if they decided to break the quorum to block the map, according to a source with direct knowledge that requested the anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Now, with Texas Democrats locked in Illinois and blocking the Map of Congress backed by Trump, the stage may be prepared for a high profile confrontation between Pritzker and the president.

Trump is looking to avoid a repetition of his first term, when the Democrats turned the camera only two years in their presidency, and hopes that the new Texas map will help that effort. Trump officials have also analyzed the reduction lines in other states, such as Missouri, according to a person familiar with conversations but not authorized to publicly speak about them.

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News writer Nadia Lathan in Austin contributed to this report.