Lawmakers had been sheltering in Illinois after denying Texas Republicans quorum for gerrymandering scheme<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texas Democrats who left the state say they experienced a bomb threat at their Illinois hotel on Wednesday morning amid an ongoing clash with Texas Republicans<\/a> over their effort to block a new congressional map from going into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Bucy III, a Democrat who represents Austin in the state legislature, confirmed the threat on X on Wednesday and said the lawmakers had been evacuated. \u201cThis is what happens when Republican state leaders publicly call for us to be \u2018hunted down\u2019. Texas Democrats won\u2019t be intimidated,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred,\u201d three other members of the Texas<\/a> house Democratic caucus, representatives Gene Wu, Ram\u00f3n Romero and Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, said in a statement. They thanked Illinois\u2019s governor, JB Pritzker, and law enforcement officials \u201cfor their quick action to ensure our safety\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The showdown between Texas Republicans and the Democrats who fled the state to block redistricting plans escalated late on Tuesday when Texas\u2019s governor, Greg Abbott, filed an emergency petition asking the state supreme court<\/a> to remove Wu, the top Democrat in the state house of representatives, and declare his seat vacant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFearing one of eighteen items on the Special Session agenda, Democrat members of the Texas House claim an entitlement to abdicate their official duties by refusing to show up for work,\u201d lawyers for Abbott\u2019s office wrote in the filing, asking the court to rule on his request by Thursday. \u201cThese members have abandoned their official duties required by the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement on Tuesday evening, Wu said he would not be intimidated by Abbott\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis office does not belong to Greg Abbott<\/a>, and it does not belong to me. It belongs to the people of House District 137, who elected me. I took an oath to the constitution, not a politician\u2019s agenda, and I will not be the one to break that oath,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cLet me be unequivocal about my actions and my duty. When a governor conspires with a disgraced president to ram through a racist gerrymandered map, my constitutional duty is to not be a willing participant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas Republicans already hold 25 of Texas\u2019s 38 congressional seats, but Abbott agreed to redraw the state\u2019s congressional districts at the request of Donald Trump<\/a> to add more GOP-friendly districts. Republicans hold a narrow 219-212 advantage in the US House, and the Texas redraw is a brazen effort to try to shore up Republicans\u2019 advantage before next year\u2019s midterm elections, when Republicans are expected to lose seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A new map<\/a> unveiled last week would favor Republicans in 30 of 38 seats and weaken the influence<\/a> of Hispanic voters throughout the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abbott\u2019s effort is considered a long shot, legal experts told the Texas Tribune<\/a>. In 2021, the Texas supreme court made clear<\/a> that the state constitution both allows state lawmakers to break quorum and allows for mechanisms for lawmakers to bring them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am aware of absolutely no authority that says breaking quorum is the same as the intent to abandon a seat,\u201d Charles \u201cRocky\u201d Rhodes, a constitutional law expert at the University of Missouri law school, told the Tribune. \u201cThat would require the courts extending the premise to the breaking point. It\u2019s inconsistent with the very text of the Texas Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, a Republican, has said he also plans to take legal action to try to remove the lawmakers from office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Tuesday, the US senator John Cornyn asked the FBI<\/a> to assist in returning the lawmakers to Texas. Trump said on Tuesday that the FBI \u201cmay have to\u201d get involved. \u201cThe governor of Texas is demanding they come back,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just sit it out. You have to go back. You have to fight it out. That\u2019s what elections are all about.\u201d The FBI has declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under rules enacted by the legislature, lawmakers also face a $500 daily fine for each day they are not present in the capitol. Many of the costs so far, including a private charter to Illinois, meals and lodging have been picked up by Powered by People, a political group started by the former representative Beto O\u2019Rourke, the Texas Tribune reported<\/a>. Paxton announced on Wednesday<\/a> he was investigating the group\u2019s funding of the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democratic representative of San Antonio in the state legislature, said in an interview he was unfazed by the possibility of racking up fines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot concerned about it at all,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had rules set aside before, and courts don\u2019t have to interpret the rules the way Republicans want them to be interpreted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe group is very committed and we recognize that this is much bigger, it\u2019s much bigger than anybody\u2019s individual congressional district, it\u2019s much bigger than anybody\u2019s individual city, and it\u2019s even bigger than the state of Texas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other states appear to be following Texas\u2019s lead and considering mid-cycle redistricting. Ohio is already set to redraw its congressional map this year because of a unique state law, and is expected to add more GOP-friendly seats. Republicans in Missouri and Indiana are also reportedly considering redrawing maps to add GOP-friendly districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democratic governors have threatened to redraw the maps in their states, too, to offset Republican gains, though they do not have the power to draw as many seats as Republicans do. The biggest opportunity for Democrats is in California, which has 52 seats in Congress. Governor Gavin Newsom<\/a> is reportedly moving ahead with a referendum this fall to ask to adopt a new map that would add Democratic seats and override an independent redistricting commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n