What North Texas House Democrats who left the state to prevent vote on new Congressional maps have said about the quorum break

DALLAS — More than 50 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives, including some from North Texas, left the state to break quorum in the chamber and delay a Monday vote in Republicans’ efforts to approve new congressional maps. 

The Texas House Democratic Caucus said some of its members went to Illinois, while others went to New York and Massachusetts. 

Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, in a statement called the Republican efforts to redraw maps a “corrupt political deal.”

“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” Wu said of the lawmakers’ decision to leave the state. “Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. 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.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in response accused the lawmakers who left the state of a “deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business,” and warned that they could face the potential loss of their seats and potential legal consequences. 

“Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. 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,” Abbott said in a statement. “Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business. That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.”

Here’s what some North Texas House Democrats who left the state have said about the quorum break:

Texas State Rep. Rafael Anchia is among the Texas House Democrats who left the state to break quorum. 

“Texas redistricting is a pressure test for American Democracy. Donald Trump wants to rig elections on the backs of already underrepresented people. It’s not only un-American, but also illegal, and I will stand firm in this crucial moment. With America rallying around us, we will defeat the Trump Texas Takeover,” Anchia wrote in a statement on social media. 

“Thank you, @GovPritzker, for welcoming Texas Democrats to Illinois and standing with us. Donald Trump sparked an unprecedented political emergency. We’re confronting it head on—denying quorum to stop an attack on democracy that started in Texas but threatens the nation,” Anchia wrote in a follow-up statement. 

Texas State Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, is also among the Democrats who say they left the state to break quorum. 

“My Democratic colleagues and I are denying quorum to stop Abbott and Trump’s plans to bring fascism to our beloved state.  Abbott used the devastation of the July 4th floods as a backdrop for his political theatre, and while feigning concern for victims, announced the most extreme special session agenda in Texas history. Texas Republicans  used the deaths of 130 innocent Texans to do Trump’s bidding. I refuse to further participate in this sham of a special session,” Gonzalez wrote. 

Texas State Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, D-Addison, is another of the Texas House Democrats who left the state to break quorum.

“I am joining my fellow Democrats in denying quorum in the Texas House. I will never stop fighting for our district—even when that means not showing up to stand up against the silencing of our community and communities across Texas. I’m ready to get to work on real solutions that deliver for Texans—not enable a partisan power grab, the dismantling of our democracy, or the erasure of our voices,” Hernandez wrote on social media. 

Texas State Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, wrote in a post on social media Monday that “Texas Democratic [lawmakers] are leaving the state to break quorum to prevent this premature redistricting republican power grab. Enough is enough! Texas Democrats are standing ten toes down for Texans,” alongside a video of himself standing in front of a plane. 

Texas State Rep. Terry Meza, D-Irving, wrote on social media that she and her colleagues left the state “because we have a legislative duty to protect voters’ rights.”

“Today, my Democratic colleagues and I left the state and broke quorum because we have a legislative duty to protect voters’ rights. I believe, like many of my colleagues, that working to defend the rights of everyday Texans requires bold action. Breaking quorum was the only way to stop harmful, discriminatory legislation being rammed through the legislature — legislation that would dilute the voting power of residents in House District 105. I was elected to serve — and sometimes that means standing up and walking out,” Meza said in a statement on social media. 

Texas State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos, D-Dallas, wrote on social media that she’s among the Texas House Democrats who left the state to break quorum. 

“Time for some good trouble. The people spoke, and we answered their call. Today I took the fight to the Trump Regime to stand up for our working families and democracy,” Ramos wrote. 

Plesa serves as vice chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus and spoke at a press conference with other Democratic lawmakers in Albany, New York Monday. 

During the press conference, Plesa called their breaking quorum “a tool that was given to us by the founders of the Texas Constitution.”

“This is about representation, about fairness, and about the integrity of our elections,” Plesa added. “The people of Texas know, they’ve seen this playbook before, and they want fair maps.”

Plesa also had pointed remarks for Texas Republicans, saying they put redistricting ahead of flood relief on the special session calendar a month after the deadly July 4 weekend flooding in Central Texas.

“Today on the House floor, House Republicans did not want to put flood relief, disaster relief…they didn’t want to do anything for the people of Texas. They’re bending the knee to President Donald Trump,” Plesa said. “The first bill put on the calendar today was a redistricting bill.”

Ahead of the press conference, Plesa issued a statement about why the lawmakers left the state. 

“Today, I took a stand and denied Republicans a quorum to pass their racially-gerrymandered map drawn at the direction of Donald Trump,” she posted on social media. “It’s been a month since the devastating floods in Central Texas—where children died. That should be our focus. Instead, the first bill scheduled in the Texas House is a redistricting map for Trump, not Texans. I refuse to let Trump dictate who represents Texas. I represent the people of House District 70—not Washington, not party bosses, and definitely not Donald Trump.

Texas State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, is among the Texas House Democrats who broke quorum and spoke during a press conference. He took to social media to discuss why he and his colleagues broke quorum. 

“There was a time when a Texas governor wouldn’t be afraid to tell a president—any president: Don’t Mess With Texas. But Greg Abbott is to subservient and too weak to do that to Donald Trump. House Democrats broke quorum because we believe the people of Texas are worth fighting for,” Turner wrote on social media.