Topline
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will continue pushing for a congressional redistricting map in the state “beyond” the candidate filing deadlines for the state’s upcoming primary election, doubling down on his open conflict with over 50 of Texas’ Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a vote on the map that could add five GOP seats in the U.S. House if it is adopted for the election.
Abbott told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Monday the Dec. 8 filing deadline for candidates participating in Texas’ primary election in March will not stop Republicans from redrawing the maps.
Election officials have said they cannot move forward with March’s primary election without finalized maps, The Texas Tribune reported, meaning Democrats could continue blocking the vote on the redistricting map in hopes the upcoming election is conducted with the current map instead.
However, Abbott appeared steadfast on not allowing the election to hinder the new map, saying if Democrats think they can wait things out until December, “they’re wrong, I’m going to do this for the next two years, and they're going to have to basically take up residency in Illinois,” one of a few states some of the Democrats have fled to.
Abbott has also said he will repeatedly call for new special sessions needed to vote on the new map if he needs to, suggesting to NBC News on Aug. 8 that Democrats will not return to the state until “like 2027 or 2028, because I’m going to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there.”
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened similar redistricting in his state if Texas goes through with its new congressional map, which could more than cancel out the potential five seats Texas may get from its own proposed map. In response, Abbott also told Tapper that Texas could remove 10 Democratic districts if California followed through on its own redistricting.
When the Democrats will return to Texas. If they only intend to wait out the current special session for the vote on the redistricting map, they will need to stay out of the state until Aug. 20. The Democratic lawmakers like State Rep. Rafael Anchía have said they are open to returning to vote on other legislation, but will not return to “participate in an illegal act of violating the Voting Rights Act.”
Redistricting in Texas has pushed back elections in the past. In 2012, the state’s primary election was delayed several months over disputes on a proposed congressional redistricting. A similar outcome could materialize this year, election officials told The Texas Tribune, expressing concern that a delay could end up in the loss of poll workers and locations already secured for April and March. In the meantime, Abbott and Texas attorney General Ken Paxton have filed petitions with the Texas Supreme Court to have 13 Democratic seats in the Texas House vacated, arguing some of the Democratic lawmakers have demonstrated “an intent to relinquish and abandon their offices” by leaving the state. However, the legal processes to vacate the seats could be lengthy and run into hurdles.
Texas Gov. Wants Democrats Who Left State Kicked Out Of Office. Can He Legally Do It? (Forbes)
Texas AG Ken Paxton Files Lawsuit To Vacate Seats Of 13 Democrats Who Fled State (Forbes)