United States: Texas Democrats go into exile outside the state to derail a vote on Republican-friendly redistricting
Dozens of Democratic representatives from the Texas House of Representatives left the southern US state on Sunday, August 3, in a last-ditch effort to block a redistricting drive called for by US President Donald Trump.
The move came before the House voted on Monday on the new configuration, which, if adopted, could make it easier for Republicans to gain five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, giving them a better chance of maintaining their narrow majority.
The proposed vote carves out Democratic-leaning urban centers, where most of Texas's approximately 30 million residents live. This practice of redrawing electoral districts is known in the United States as "gerrymandering." Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats.
"This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity," said Gene Wu, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement. "We are not abdicating our responsibilities; we are abandoning a rigged system that refuses to listen to the citizens we represent," he added.
Texas lawmakers cannot pass bills in the 150-member House of Representatives without at least two-thirds of them, or 100 elected members, in attendance. Democrats hold 62 seats in the Republican-majority chamber, and at least 51 of them were expected to leave the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, a spokesman for the Democratic Caucus.
A strategy with a very uncertain outcomeRepublican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would convene as scheduled Monday afternoon. "If a quorum is not present, then, to echo the recent arguments of some of my Democratic colleagues, all options will be on the table…" he wrote on X.
The outcome of this strategy is highly uncertain, and past attempts do not support a favorable outcome. In 2021, House Democrats already left Texas for 38 days to protest voting restrictions, which were ultimately passed after the blockade was lifted in a special session. State Democrats used the same tactic in 2003, when House members traveled to Oklahoma and senators to New Mexico, but failed to thwart a Republican redistricting plan.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, a candidate for the United States Senate, said on X that Democrats who "try to run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately."
Texas lawmakers' refusal to appear at a meeting constitutes a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that House leaders have the authority to "physically compel the attendance" of absent lawmakers , but no Democrats were forcibly returned to the state after the arrest warrants were issued that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules allowing $500 daily fines for lawmakers who fail to show up for work as a punishment.
For Trump, avoiding the mishap of 2018Many Texas Democrats traveled to Illinois, in the north of the country, where they were welcomed by Governor JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, who pledged his support. This staunch opponent of Donald Trump had already hosted several Texas Democrats last week to publicly oppose the redistricting effort, and California Governor Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his home state.
With this Texas redistricting project, Donald Trump is seeking to avoid the mishap that occurred during his first term (2017-2021) when the Democrats flipped the House of Representatives in the November 2018 midterms, just two years after the Republican's election.
In response to this attempt, Democratic governors have also raised the possibility of redrawing their own states' electoral maps in retaliation, but their options are more limited.
The World with AP
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