At least 51 Texas House Democrats left the state Sunday, one day after a bill that would dramatically redraw Texas’ congressional maps, House Bill 4,passed out of committee in the GOP-led House of Representatives on a party-line vote. The House requires 100 members be present to conduct business, and the House only includes 88 Republicans. The Democrats action, known as “breaking quorum,” effectively brings the House to a standstill and prevents any consideration of HB 4 by the full chamber.
“This is the rot at the core of our broken political system,” said state Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) in a statement. “It’s like two football teams coming out of the locker room at halftime, and the team that’s ahead changes the rules to make sure they win. It’s cheating. Plain and simple.”
Early reports indicate that some of the Democrats have fled to Chicago, others to Albany and Boston — all to cities in Democrat-led states.
“We may not be at the Capitol, but we’re doing our jobs,” Talarico said. “We may not be in Texas, but we’re fighting for our constituents.”
The mid-decade round of redistricting kicked off following intense pressure from President Donald Trump. The U.S. Department of Justice sent Gov. Greg Abbott a letter identifying four Democrat-held seats representing majority non-white coalitions of voters as “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.” Trump then stated publicly he wanted Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional map to pick up five seats.
“We should be in Austin right now, working to support grieving communities devastated by the July 4th floods that took more than 135 of our fellow Texans – many of them families and children. That’s what Texans deserve in the wake of a horrific tragedy,” said state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) in a separate statement. “Unfortunately, Republicans, at the request of Donald Trump, have hijacked our special legislative session to launch a blatant and calculated power grab. It’s unconscionable and an insult to the flooding victims, survivors, and their loved ones.”
The last time Texas Democrats broke quorum was four years ago to block the passage of election legislation during a special session. Governor Greg Abbott responded by calling another special session, and the quorum break ultimately collapsed.
The map legislation passed the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting on a party-line vote following a day of testimony in which those opposing the measure outnumbered supporters 100-to-1, a point Committee Vice Chair Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) made.
“The people of Texas spoke,” Rosenthal said. “They came out in overwhelming numbers to these hearings. They submitted thousands and thousands of testimonials online, and we saw that 1.2% of the responses were in favor, while 98.8% were opposed. I think even conservative, true conscientious conservative Texans know this is a racist attack on Black and brown communities, and I won’t stand for it. We will continue to fight this with everything we have.”
State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) condemned the approaching vote on the proposed redistricting map as a travesty, and he pledged to those who had come out to testify against the map that the fight was far from over.
“This map intentionally dismantles majority-minority congressional districts in which voters have repeatedly demonstrated the ability and power to elect the candidates of their choice,” Turner said. “To take that ability and power away is straight-up, intentional racial discrimination and a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
State Rep. Christian Manuel (D-Port Arthur) described how prior rounds of redistricting had intentionally broken an opportunity congressional district in East Texas for non-white voters, and he said the communities have yet to recover from the resulting damage.
“Yesterday and the day before, we heard people who were telling you they were hurting and that they’re scared,” Manuel said. “And this is the same thing that happened when Democrats didn’t listen during the era of the tea party, and we paid for that. And that’s not a threat. I’m wanting you to understand, just like some of you remember what that fear felt like, you thought that big government was coming in to take over everything, that is the real fear that some people have.”
State Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton), chair of the committee, presided over the meeting but did not make any statements in favor of the bill ahead of the vote.
State Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, issued a statement following the committee vote, condemning the process.
“This vote is a profound act of contempt for the people of Texas. It is the final confirmation that to hold power, Republicans will gladly silence the voices of Black and Latino Texans who have fought for generations to be heard,” Wu said. “When a majority uses its power not to govern, but to erase the voices of its fellow citizens, it forfeits its legitimacy.”
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