Democrats are desperate to get traction on something, and this new Texas redistricting plan is their latest attempt to blow something up that’s not really that big of a deal.
It’s being reported that state Democrats are fleeing Texas today in order to prevent quorum in the state legislature, so that Republicans can’t do any business.
Here’s the news via taxpayer-funded Politico:
Dozens of Texas Democrats plan to flee the state amid a special session Sunday afternoon, making a last-ditch effort to disrupt a mid-decade redistricting attempt forced by President Donald Trump, according to two people briefed on the matter.
It marks their second act of breaking quorum — when the state House will lack the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct business — since 2021. And it comes as the party scrambles to counter the aggressive action in Texas, intended to keep Republicans in power in Congress next year by creating five GOP-friendly seats in the state.
Four years ago, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for the arrest of fleeing lawmakers upon their return to their state.
For weeks Texas state lawmakers have been debating their strategy for responding to the GOP: Some members fully support a walkout; others are reluctant to take such a risk that could put them in legal and political jeopardy.
“Breaking quorum is an extreme step.It should be a last resort,” State Rep. James Talarico told POLITICO in an interview last Tuesday. He was among the 50 Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in 2021 over an election bill. Democrats are said to be headed to Illinois, a blue state with a governor who has accused Texas Republicans of cheating by trying to finagle redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections.
They are expected to touch down in Illinois on Sunday, setting off a standoff with Abbott in the high-stakes redistricting battle.
It didn’t work before when Democrats did this and it won’t work now. The will be rounded up and brought back to Texas – even from Illinois. The only thing this will do is create a spectacle, which they are hoping to cash in on at the ballot box. But I doubt that will work either.