Texas Dems vow to continue battle after Abbott orders their arrests

Members of the Texas state House vowed to continue their fight against Republicans’ efforts to redraw the congressional district map after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered their arrests for leaving the state to deny the chamber quorum. 

A group of state House members and Texas Democrats in the U.S. House gathered for a press conference Monday after the state legislators left the Lone Star State to prevent the GOP from voting on a measure that would enact mid-decade redistricting and could help Republicans pick up seats in next year’s midterm elections. 

Although the state House members still in Texas came together earlier in the day for the special legislative session that Abbott called, they were unable to conduct any business because of the lack of quorum, which requires two-thirds of the members to be present. While Democrats are a significant minority in the body, more than 50 of them left the state for Illinois, New York or Massachusetts, enough to stall the chamber. 

Those who went to Illinois slammed the proposed map as “blatant racism” during the press conference, arguing it would dilute the political power of Hispanic and Black communities through gerrymandering. 

State Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos (D), chair of the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus, said Republicans should be focusing on affordability and health care, but they’re pushing the “racist radical redistricting map” instead. 

If passed, the new map could allow the GOP to pick up five additional U.S. House seats currently held by Democrats.

Rodríguez Ramos said more than 60 percent of Texans are Hispanic, African American or Asian. 

“But they want to silence our voice,” she said. “This is nothing short of blatant racism.” 

State Rep. John Bucy (D) said he didn’t run for office to walk out of the state Capitol, but cast Democrats’ actions as necessary. He said Democrats broke quorum because upholding their oath of office sometimes means refusing to play along in a “rigged game.” 

He said the special legislative session Abbott called was originally supposed to be about aid after significant flooding in Texas that killed more than 100 people, but President Trump and Abbott held hearings on the redistricting plan instead. 

“We’re not running away,” Bucy said. “We’re running into the fight.” 

“This isn’t political theater — it’s survival,” he added. “Because if we lose the power to choose our leaders, we lose everything.” 

The press conference also featured U.S. House members who could lose their seats if the new map goes through. 

Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas), who previously served in the state House, encouraged Democratic-led states to respond with similar measures if Texas ultimately approves the map. Various Democratic governors, including California’s Gavin Newsom and New York’s Kathy Hochul, have expressed interest in redrawing their own states’ lines if Texas does it first. 

Johnson said Democrats should declare “gloves are off” and that if Republicans do it in Texas, they’ll respond in their own states. 

“Democrats are no longer going to sit by, handcuffed,” she said. “This is an all-out war. Everything is on the table.” 

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), whose seat is also at risk, argued that if Republicans in Texas succeed in redrawing the map, the GOP will try it in other states as well. He said the courage of the state House members should be “commended.” 

“It’s not just Texas,” he said. “It really is the United States of America, because if they succeed in Texas, they will take this to other states. They will take this to the county court level. They will take this to the commissioners, to the school boards. They will take this across … the country, but they’ll do it if only we stand by and watch them.”

The decision by the state House members to leave the state to deny quorum, and Abbott’s call for their arrests, has stoked tensions even further as the increasingly national conversation over redistricting spreads to more states. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said Sunday that his state would protect the Texas House members from the threat of arrest while they’re in Illinois.

The move will at least delay Republicans’ plans to pass the new map, but whether Democrats will ultimately be able to affect the result is unclear.