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Texas House Democrats departed the state Sunday in an attempt to halt a redistricting Monday vote, claiming that the legislation is “using an intentionally racist map” to undermine the voices of Black and Latino voters in the state of Texas.
Democrats’ absence means that Republicans are unable to go ahead with a scheduled vote under House rules, blocking the potential passage of redistricting legislation that would establish a new congressional map that could lead to five new GOP U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” state Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday.
TEXAS DEMOCRATS FLEE STATE TO BLOCK TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING VOTE IN DRAMATIC LEGISLATIVE MOVE
Most of the House Democrats fled to Chicago, while others headed to New York and Boston.
The Texas House stipulates that at least 100 members of the 150-member chamber must be present to conduct business, and roughly 50 Democrats are absent — meaning the vote is stalled until they return. It’s unclear how Democrats plan to proceed, and Wu told reporters that precise plans were still up in the air.
The redistricting legislation would shift Democrat voters from toss-up districts into ones that are more solidly Republican, and also move other Republican voters into districts that lean more toward Democrats — ultimately paving the way for more GOP seats.
This isn’t the first time Democrats have fled the state in protest of legislation.
In July 2021, more than 50 Democrats also left the state of Texas and headed to Washington, D.C., to tie up Texas legislation that would implement new voting restrictions in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s loss of the 2020 election, which some Republicans claimed was “stolen.”
Specifically, the measure Democrats opposed included new voter ID restrictions for those voting by mail and prohibited drive-by voting and extended voting hours. Likewise, the measure included new limitations for those who work at the polls, and barred local election officials from distributing a mail-in ballot to anyone who hadn’t officially requested one.
Democrats ultimately returned to Texas weeks later, after multiple members caught COVID-19 while in D.C., and House Republicans finally passed the measure in August 2021 before Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law in September 2021.
TRUMP, REPUBLICANS RACE TO REDRAW TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS DEMOCRATS THREATEN LEGAL WAR
Meanwhile, Abbott threatened to arrest the Democrats who departed the state Sunday, should they not be back by 3 p.m. Monday when the Texas House reconvenes. Even so, there is no indication of when the Democrats plan to return to Texas.
“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,” Abbot said in a statement late Sunday.
The Texas Democrats have attracted support from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who labeled the Democrats’ decision to flee Texas a “righteous act of courage,” and accused Republicans of attempting to silence “millions of voices, especially Black and Latino voters.”
“Texas Democrats were left with no choice but to leave their home state, block a vote from taking place and protect their constituents,” Pritzker said in a news conference Sunday.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
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