This isn’t the first time Texas lawmakers left the state to halt legislation

DALLAS — In a dramatic but familiar move, more than 51 Texas House Democrats left the state on Sunday, once again using the tactic of breaking quorum to stall a Republican-backed redistricting plan that would give the GOP five more seats in Congress.

This latest standoff is just the latest chapter in a long-running Texas tradition that goes back more than 150 years. From a walkout during Reconstruction to high-profile flights in 2003 and 2021, Texas lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have repeatedly left the state to stop legislation they see as extreme or unfair.

The last time this happened was in 2021, when House Democrats took off for Washington, D.C., to protest Senate Bill 1. It was a Republican-backed measure that made it harder to vote by mail and rolled back local efforts to expand access during the pandemic.

Governor Greg Abbott quickly vowed to have the lawmakers arrested upon their return. The bill eventually passed after Abbott called multiple special sessions to force a vote.

But the precedent goes back even further.

In 2003, redistricting was again the flashpoint. More than 51 House Democrats traveled to Ardmore, Oklahoma, to avoid a vote on a GOP plan to redraw congressional lines mid-decade. Their departure halted proceedings temporarily, but then-Governor Rick Perry responded by calling a special session. This time, 11 Senate Democrats left for New Mexico, but the plan ultimately passed after a month-long impasse ended with one Democrat breaking ranks and returning to Austin.

Even earlier, in 1979, and all the way back to 1870, Texas lawmakers have used quorum-breaking to try and tilt the legislative process back in their favor, the Texas Tribune reported. The “Rump Senate” incident of 1870, where 13 senators were arrested after attempting to block a wartime powers bill, helped establish the tactic as part of the minority party’s toolbox in Texas politics.

Whether this latest chapter in the long-running saga of quorum-breaking will have a different outcome remains to be seen.

Gov. Abbott still has the power to call repeated 30-day special sessions until the maps are passed. Still, the move signals to voters that Democrats remain committed to fighting what they describe as a “rigged” process designed to dilute the political power of Black and Latino communities and lock in Republican control for years to come.