Democrats flee Texas to block Republican redistricting map backed by Trump

Texas Democratic state representative Gene Wu has said he and his colleagues are “walking out on a rigged system” after leaving the state to block a vote on a controversial redistricting proposal.

More than 50 Democratic lawmakers have left Texas—many heading to Illinois—in a strategic move to prevent the Republican-controlled legislature from reaching the two-thirds quorum needed to hold a vote. Their goal is to delay the approval of a new congressional map that would significantly benefit Republican candidates by creating five additional GOP-leaning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, Republicans hold a narrow majority.

The proposed redistricting plan was introduced by Texas Republicans last week and has received support from former President Donald Trump.

The Democrats plan to remain out of the state for the duration of the special legislative session, which ends in two weeks. The session was called by Republican Governor Greg Abbott to address several issues, including disaster relief after recent deadly floods, a proposed ban on THC (the psychoactive compound in cannabis), and the contentious redistricting measure.

Governor Abbott has warned that any lawmakers who refuse to return could face consequences, including removal from office. Additionally, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened legal action, saying each absent lawmaker could be fined $500 per day and possibly face arrest.

Posting on social media platform X, Paxton wrote: “The state must use every means available to locate and return those who believe they are above the law. Texas House Democrats who flee like cowards should be arrested and brought back to the Capitol immediately

Texas Democrats defended their recent decision in a public statement, emphasizing that their actions were not an abandonment of duty.

“We’re not neglecting our responsibilities,” said Gene Wu, a state legislator and chair of the Democratic caucus. “We’re taking a stand against a system that is fundamentally rigged and ignores the voices of the people we represent.”

The move was met with support from national Democratic leaders. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised the lawmakers, calling their actions a display of “courage, conviction, and character.”

While Democrats across the country have discussed similar tactics in response to Republican actions, their leverage may be limited.

In states like Illinois, New Mexico, and Nevada, where Democrats control the redistricting process, they have also engaged in gerrymandering. Illinois’ most recent electoral map, for instance, was given a failing grade by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project due to its extreme partisan bias.

However, not all Democratic-led states follow this approach. In places such as New York, California, Colorado, and Washington, redistricting is managed by independent, non-partisan commissions instead of partisan legislatures.

Texas Republicans currently hold 25 out of 38 congressional seats in the Lone Star State.

They hope the new maps could increase that number to 30 – all in constituencies that Trump won last November by at least 10 points.

Ahead of next year’s nationwide midterm elections, Texas’ redistricting could help pad the slender Republican majority in the House, which is the lower chamber of Congress.

Trump’s party currently has 219 of 435 seats in the House, while Democrats hold 212.

The new map would include a redistricting of the Rio Grande Valley and combine two districts in the state capital of Austin currently held by Democrats.

In northern Texas, the map would expand a district currently held by Democratic congresswoman Julie Johnson to include rural Republican strongholds.

It would also redraw four Houston-area seats, including one held by Democratic congressman Al Green.

Texas state legislator Todd Hunter, a Republican who sponsored the measure to redraw the map, called it “a good plan for Texas”.

This is the third time in the past few years that Democrats have fled Texas to deny Republicans a quorum.

The party’s legislators took off for to Washington DC in 2021 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of new election rules.

Texas Democrats also left for Oklahoma in 2003 in a bid to stop redistricting that Republicans eventually managed to get approved.

States typically undergo redistricting every 10 years, when voting maps are redrawn to account for population changes.

The most recent US Census was in 2020. Redrawing district lines in the middle of a decade is unusual.