Texas House Democrats announced on Sunday that they were leaving the state in a bid to stop Republicans from advancing House maps that would give the GOP five more pickup opportunities ahead of 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Texas Democrats said they were denying Republicans a quorum<\/u><\/a>, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed present in order to conduct legislative business, following a similar tactic they employed the last time the GOP pursued midcycle redistricting in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,\u201d Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGovernor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. He is using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal,\u201d he continued. \u201cApathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) is set to hold a press conference with the Texas Democrats later on Sunday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) will also be hosting some of state lawmakers, too, according to her team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas Democrats are receiving additional national support in their bid to deny their GOP counterparts a quorum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe DNC is proud to support these legislators in standing up and showing real leadership. We will fight alongside them to stop this anti-democratic assault,\u201d Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. \u201cAnd, after this fight is done, we\u2019re coming full force for the Republicans\u2019 House majority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their move to break quorum underscores how the party is willing to use all of the tools at its disposal in order to stop Republicans from passing a friendlier GOP House map before the end of the 30-day special session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting advanced the proposed set of new House lines on Saturday,<\/u><\/a> teeing up for a vote before the entire House this week. Because the Texas GOP holds majorities in both chambers and governor\u2019s mansion, Democrats face few good options in order to stop them from passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breaking quorum could be costly for the more than 50 state lawmakers who left the state: Each faces a daily penalty of $500 and the possibility of being arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Texas House will be convening at 3:00pm tomorrow,\u201d Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (D) said in a post on X<\/u><\/a>. \u201cIf a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his own post on X<\/u><\/a> argued that Democrats should be arrested over breaking quorum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDemocrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas Republicans are redrawing their House maps ahead of 2026 as President Trump is eyeing pick-up opportunities in the Lone Star State ahead of what\u2019s expected to be a difficult election cycle for the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mid-decade redistricting is unusual in that most states draw their House once every 10 years following the U.S. Census. Ohio was originally the only state expected to redraw its maps this year after the ones used in 2022 did not receive bipartisan support. Sometimes mid-cycle redistricting can happen as a result of litigation over a state\u2019s maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The effort to redraw the maps \u2014 which will impact lawmakers in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houstin and Rio Grande Valley areas \u2014 has set off a chain reaction, with red and blue states alike considering redrawing their own maps in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is considering redrawing the state\u2019s maps, with options of the use of a ballot measure or through the state legislature itself to achieve that goal. Other blue-state governors in New York, Illinois and New Jersey have similarly left the door open to redrawing their map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subtitles<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas House Democrats announced on Sunday that they were leaving the state in a bid to stop Republicans from advancing House maps that would give the GOP five more pickup opportunities ahead of 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Texas Democrats said they were denying Republicans a quorum<\/u><\/a>, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed present in order to conduct legislative business, following a similar tactic they employed the last time the GOP pursued midcycle redistricting in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,\u201d Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGovernor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. He is using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal,\u201d he continued. \u201cApathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) is set to hold a press conference with the Texas Democrats later on Sunday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) will also be hosting some of state lawmakers, too, according to her team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas Democrats are receiving additional national support in their bid to deny their GOP counterparts a quorum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe DNC is proud to support these legislators in standing up and showing real leadership. We will fight alongside them to stop this anti-democratic assault,\u201d Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. \u201cAnd, after this fight is done, we\u2019re coming full force for the Republicans\u2019 House majority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their move to break quorum underscores how the party is willing to use all of the tools at its disposal in order to stop Republicans from passing a friendlier GOP House map before the end of the 30-day special session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting advanced the proposed set of new House lines on Saturday,<\/u><\/a> teeing up for a vote before the entire House this week. Because the Texas GOP holds majorities in both chambers and governor\u2019s mansion, Democrats face few good options in order to stop them from passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breaking quorum could be costly for the more than 50 state lawmakers who left the state: Each faces a daily penalty of $500 and the possibility of being arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Texas House will be convening at 3:00pm tomorrow,\u201d Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (D) said in a post on X<\/u><\/a>. \u201cIf a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n