“This corrupt special session is over,” said Democratic leader Gene Wu, less than a day before House Republicans are set to approve new congressional districts.
CHICAGO — More than 51 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives quietly flew to Chicago on Sunday afternoon, denying quorum in the chamber and temporarily delaying Republican efforts to approve new congressional maps.
“We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans. We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over,” said state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, in a statement on Sunday.
The Texas House Democratic Caucus also confirmed that some members went to Boston and Albany, New York. Like Illinois, Massachusetts and New York are Democratic strongholds.
Texas House Democrats held a news conference in Chicago Sunday night alongside Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. During the appearance, speakers ripped state Republicans, making pointed remarks about their adherence to President Trump’s request to redraw the district maps.
“Governor Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump, so that Donald Trump could steal these communities’ power and voice. We will not be complicit,” said State Rep. Gene Wu, the current chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. “We asked them to stop doing things behind closed doors. We asked them to stop attacking Texas communities. They refused because their loyalty and fealty to Donald Trump overrides all other interests.”
Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, directed his criticism at Gov. Abbott.
“There was a time when a Texas governor wouldn’t be afraid to tell the president, any president, don’t mess with Texas, but Greg Abbott is too subservient and too weak to do that to Donald Trump,” Rep. Turner said. “So Abbott and the Republicans in the legislature are dutifully following Trump’s commands. And this is what this is about.”
Gov. Abbott responded, saying the Democratic lawmakers’ actions are a dereliction of their duty to the public and their constituents.
“Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did,” Gov. Abbott said in a statement Sunday night. “Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.”
Governor Abbott went on to say he will invoke a 2021 opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that he claims could remove absent Democrats from their seats in the Texas House.
Texas House Democrats had the plan in the works for more than a week, as the legislature is in the middle of a special 30-day legislative session to address deadly flash floods in Central Texas, a ban on products with THC in them, and redrawing congressional districts at the request of President Trump.
“Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump,” Wu’s statement continued. “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. Apathy 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.”
The Texas House of Representatives planned to reconvene on Monday at 3:00 p.m. to vote on the maps a House committee approved over the weekend.
Congressional lines are typically redrawn at the beginning of every decade after a census is taken.
However, President Trump, concerned that Republicans might lose their three-seat majority in Congress during the 2026 midterm elections, urged Texas Republicans to redraw the maps now in an effort to defeat as many as five incumbent Democrats, thereby helping Republicans maintain control.
“We passed a map in Illinois that follows the Constitution, and that is not what Governor Abbott is trying to do in Texas,” Gov. Pritzker said during Sunday’s news conference. “We believe that the people of Texas deserve to have fair representation and not to have the game changed in the middle of the decade.”
Redistricting has now taken over as the top priority for Republicans in the special legislative session, weeks after deadly flash floods killed more than 100 people.
There are 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives. Two-thirds, or 100, must be present for the chamber to meet and conduct business. With more than 51 Democrats out of state now, the House cannot reconvene and approve the new maps for President Trump.
Denying Republicans a quorum for the state House of Representatives to meet is the only option Democrats had.
“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” Wu’s statement continued.
Breaking quorum gives Democrats an opportunity to seize the news cycle and put attention on the issue; It’s already spurred reactions from political leaders and groups across the country. But this political move will only temporarily delay the Republicans’ plan to redraw lines.
Since Democrats cannot remain out of state indefinitely, Governor Greg Abbott can simply call another special 30-day legislative session at the end of the current one on August 19.
Texas House Democrats also face the potential for daily fines in the chamber for missing the special legislative session.
“We’re all away from our families that we’ve already been away from for six months because of the legislature…” Rep. Wu said. “We’ve not earned a lot of income this entire year, and our salary for being a legislator is $600 a month, so this is not a decision that we take lightly.”
This is not the first time Texas Democrats have resorted to quorum breaks to deny Republican priorities.
Democrats in the Texas Senate fled to Albuquerque in 2003, denying quorum and temporarily delaying redistricting that year.
In 2021, Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives fled to Washington, D.C., protesting a voting rights bill that Republicans were pushing. It eventually passed.
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