Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday that he would continue to call special sessions of the Texas legislature until the rogue Democrats who fled the state to block redistricting returned.
Abbott also pledged to arrest the Democrats and take them to the Capitol building once they returned to Texas so the legislature could reconvene. Around 50 House Democrats left the state last week to block the legislature from redrawing election maps by denying a quorum.
“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days. And as soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one,” Abbott told Fox News host Shannon Bream.
Texas Democrats didn’t stand and fight—they fled, obstructing critical state business for hardworking Texans.
I’ll call special session after special session for years if I have to.
Only cowards run to blue states. pic.twitter.com/ojws4DDlbG
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 10, 2025
“If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the capitol. If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years,” he added. “They might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be.”
Abbott filed a suit with the Texas Supreme Court last Tuesday seeking to remove Democrat House Caucus Chair Gene Wu from office over the Democrat revolt. He argued that Wu has forfeited his spot in the legislature.
“We have 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,” Abbott said Sunday.
The Texas House was set to consider adopting GOP-backed election maps that would create five more favorable Republican seats in Congress. This prompted backlash from Democrat lawmakers who went to deep blue states like Massachusetts or Illinois to protest.
Despite his own state’s gerrymandered political maps, Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker has accused Texas Republicans of engaging in a power grab.
“What they’re talking about is a distraction. The reality is that the violation of people’s voting rights is what Texas is attempting to do. That’s what’s wrong with their efforts right now. And the fact that the president of the United States knows it and, nevertheless, is asking them to do it — that is what’s wrong with what we’re seeing right now. Democracy is at stake,” he said Sunday.