Politics
Texas Democrats Continue to Hold Out in Illinois Amid Redistricting Fight: ‘We Are Standing Up for the People’
It’s a Texas-sized showdown that’s capturing the attention of the nation.
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers from Texas fled the state for Illinois, New York and Massachusetts to block an effort by Republicans to redraw congressional districts. The plan, backed by President Donald Trump, would increase the number of Republican-leaning congressional seats by five.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has since called for the lawmakers to be arrested, but Democrats say they’re prepared “to stay as long as it takes.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows authorized civil arrest warrants for Texas Democrats who left the state. He said Tuesday that the state’s public safety department is “actively working to compel their attendance.”
“Their jurisdiction is within the state of Texas,” said Texas state Rep. Reynaldo Lopez, who represents parts of San Antonio’s West and Northwest sides. “The reach of what they’re trying to get done in Texas will ultimately affect many other states. And I think what we’re trying to do here is make sure all of the states understand the dilemma.”
Legal experts and even Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said it would be difficult to enforce consequences against the Democratic lawmakers while they are safely camped out in sympathetic Democratic-controlled states and effectively out of reach of Texas law enforcement looking to bring them home.
“I think that’s a lot of bluster,” said Texas state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, who represents parts of Austin. “The voters elected us to be in office, and I don’t believe that the attorney general is basing his opinion on any fact. Our rules say it would take two-thirds of our legislature to kick us out and that would require some Democrats and we’re not going to do that.”
Goodwin is serving her fourth term in the Texas legislature and is currently running for lieutenant governor of Texas.
The lawmakers’ actions have created a ripple effect. Democratic-run states led by California have started pushing forward with their efforts to draw new maps and add Democratic seats.
The word “gerrymander” was coined in America more than 200 years ago as an unflattering means of describing political manipulation in legislative map-making. The word has stood the test of time, in part, because American politics has remained fiercely competitive.
In many states, like Texas, the state legislature is responsible for drawing congressional districts, subject to the approval or veto of the governor. District maps must be redrawn every 10 years, after each census, to balance the population in districts.
But in some states, nothing prevents legislatures from conducting redistricting more often.
In an effort to limit gerrymandering, some states have entrusted redistricting to special commissions composed of citizens or bipartisan panels of politicians.
“Trump ordered Abbott to draw five additional Republican congressional districts,” Goodwin said. “That’s not the way democracy works, and we are standing up for the people of Texas.”
GOP lawmakers said this effort reflects the growing number of Latinos in Texas who are voting Republican.
“They’re gerrymandering the districts where the elected officials are selecting who can vote for them, and it shouldn’t be that way,” Lopez said. “It should be the other way around.”
Democrats also argued the proposed congressional map would suppress the votes of people of color.
However, Republican lawmakers claim they are well within their rights to redraw the map. State Rep. Brian Cassidy called his Democratic colleagues hypocrites in an interview with CNN on Monday and claimed the ones who “fled the state to hide behind Gov. Pritzker are not mad that states are engaging in redistricting to maximize partisan political advantage, but they are mad that a Republican state is stepping up and doing it.”
National Democratic Chairman Ken Martin said Trump and compliant Republicans are subverting democracy out of fear given the president’s lagging approval ratings and voter angst over the massive GOP tax and policy bill Trump signed last month.
Republicans hold an 88-62 majority in the Texas House of Representatives, and the Texas Constitution requires at least 100 members be present to do business. With at least 51 Democrats absent, the House failed to reach a quorum Monday and again Tuesday. However, even if Democrats manage to block the current redistricting effort in this special session, Abbott could call for another one, or bring it up during the regular legislative session.
“My hope is that there is enough public pressure and enough people become aware of what’s going on that they push back in such a way that the governor realizes that perhaps even his reelection in 2026 is in jeopardy,” Goodwin said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
