Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening to seek judicial orders vacating the House seats of “runaway Democrats” who have fled the state in order to avoid a vote on a redistricting measure they oppose.

In a press release Tuesday, Paxton said that the continued refusal to perform legislative duties in order to break quorum constitutes abandonment of office and that Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows has given the missing lawmakers until Friday to return to Texas and present themselves before the House.

More than 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers fled on Sunday to various blue states to prevent their Republican colleagues from passing what they see as a gerrymandered congressional map that could give Republicans 5 additional House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

The hiding Democrats are already facing a $500 fine for every day that they are absent and the possibility of reprimand, censure or expulsion from the legislative body.

On Monday, Governor Abbott ordered the arrest of the fugitive lawmakers, arguing that they violated their oath of office and were preventing the state House from conducting business.

The governor also said that if lawmakers had not returned by 3:00 PM on Monday August 4, 2025, that he would initiate legal action to remove them from their offices.

That action began on Tuesday with Gov. Abbott filing a quo warranto lawsuit against Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu to remove him from his seat in the midst of the redistricting controversy.

Paxton said, “Democrats have abandoned their offices by fleeing Texas, and a failure to respond to a call of the House constitutes dereliction of their duty as elected officials.”

The Texas AG added, “The people of Texas elected lawmakers, not jet-setting runaways looking for headlines. If you don’t show up to work, you get fired.”

Many of the missing Texas Democrat lawmakers fled to Illinois, one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation, to protest what they call “unfair redistricting.”

At a Sunday press conference, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker pledged to help the Texas lawmakers remain on the lam, saying, “We’re going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them.