Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Tex., accused Democrat state representatives of being cowards for fleeing Texas to break quorum on calling their actions a “most un-Texan thing.”
The governor, who appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” explained in the interview that these lawmakers’ actions will only further strengthen the lawsuit he filed on Aug. 5, which requests the Texas Supreme Court Court remove House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu. This was followed on Friday by Attorney General Ken Paxton asking the court to declare at least 13 seats vacated. Abbott argues that because Democrats have abandoned their seats, “we are incapable of conducting business for the people of Texas.”
“This is the most un-Texan thing we’ve ever seen in Texas from the time of the Alamo until today. Texans stand and fight,” Abbott stated. “What these cowards did, they didn’t stand and fight. They fled and went to leftist blue states that may be more aligned with their personal philosophy that is not welcome in the state of Texas.”
Abbott also showed confidence that the lawsuit will succeed, arguing that while the Constitution enables quorum breaks, fleeing Democrat lawmakers are not exempt from legal repercussions.
“That’s exactly what we have with the quorum break here,” Abbott stated. “A situation where lawmakers are violating the law in Article 3 of the Texas Constitution where they are required to act on bills because they’re violating that constitutional mandate. That means they are not fulfilling their oath of office, and they can be removed from office in this legal action that I’m taking.”
Democrats around the nation are railing against Abbott’s lawsuit and President Donald Trump‘s effort to redraw the congressional map. Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-NY, praised Texas lawmakers for fleeing the state, describing the governor’s and president’s actions as “nothing short of a legal insurrection.”
However, Abbott rebuffed these accusations, pointing out that in blue states like California, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts, they have already redistricted before Texas, leaving Republicans with fewer seats in Congress.
“If Texas had drawn our lines, mathematically the same way that California had, we would be not adding five more seats, we would be adding 10 more seats,” Abbott argued. “And if you look at all the Republican states across the entire country—f we engage in this war, making sure that each state is going to draw their lines the way that the Democrat states have—Republicans are going to be able to pick up maybe as many as 25 seats.”