Texas lawmaker prepares for second night of redistricting protest in state Capitol
This time she expects to have a bit more company.
Collier was one of more than 50 Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives who left the state in a two-week walkout to deny Republicans the legislative quorum needed to approve new congressional district maps drawn at Trump's behest.
After the Democrats returned on Monday, they faced new rules by the Republican leadership, requiring each to stay put in the Capitol, unless they agreed to be placed in custody of a state police officer to monitor their movements.
Republicans said the signed permission slips were designed to ensure the Democrats' presence when Republican leaders gavel in a second special session on Wednesday to pursue the unfinished business of redistricting.
Democrats called the crackdown unjustified.
Collier, in her seventh two-year term representing Fort Worth, refused to agree to a police monitor, remaining in the Capitol building in protest.
"What matters to me is making sure that I resist and fight back against and push back," Collier told Reuters from the Capitol in an interview on Monday.
CBS News reported that Collier's lawyers filed a court petition against the Republicans' crackdown, saying the threat of civil arrest for leaving the Capitol amounted to "illegal confinement."
Collier posted a picture of herself on X on Tuesday sleeping on a chair with a blanket and the caption, "This was my night, bonnet and all, in the #txlege."
CNN said Texas State Representatives Gene Wu and Vince Perez, also Democrats, joined her in solidarity overnight, bringing snacks of dried fruit, ramen and popcorn.
On Tuesday, Collier said several more of her Democratic colleagues had torn up their permission slips and would join her for a second overnight protest in the Capitol.
About two dozen supporters staged a boisterous but peaceful protest in the Capitol, chanting and carrying signs outside the House chamber where Collier remained sequestered.
The proposed redrawing of Texas congressional districts aims to help Republicans pick up five seats from Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans now hold a slim 219-212 majority in the U.S. House, with the balance between the two parties expected to be closely fought.
The Texas Democrats said their walkout, while merely delaying the action they sought to thwart, gave their party time to organize a counter-measure, led by California Governor Gavin Newsom, to advance its own redistricting plan.
Newsom has called California's effort, designed to pick up five new Democratic seats in the U.S. House, the 'Election Rigging Response Act.'
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Republican, accused Collier and other Democrats of shirking their duty as lawmakers, delaying other important business besides redistricting.
After Monday's session, Collier stood alone in the center of the chamber in Austin, the state capital, making telephone calls and doing interviews amid a sea of empty seats.
Wu, the Democratic leader of the Texas House, has said the current congressional districts already dilute the voting power of the state's racial minorities, and the new redistricting plan represented "turbocharged racism."
On Fox News, Abbott called Wu's accusation "bogus," saying redistricting would create more Hispanic-majority districts. He said it was also necessary to give Trump voters in Democrat-majority districts the ability to elect Republicans.
In a statement on Monday, Collier, a former chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, said, "My community is majority-minority, and they expect me to stand up for their representation."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Texas Republicans set to approve Trump-backed congressional map to protect party's majority
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Texas legislators on Wednesday took up a new state congressional map intended to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats in next year's midterm elections, after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout that had temporarily blocked passage. Republican legislators, who have dominated Texas politics for over two decades, have undertaken a rare mid-decade redistricting at the behest of President Donald Trump, who is seeking to improve his party's odds of preserving its narrow U.S. House of Representatives majority amid political headwinds. The map, which should easily pass the Texas House by a simple majority vote but will have to be reconciled with the state Senate's version, has triggered a national redistricting war, with governors of both parties threatening to initiate similar efforts in other states. Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom is advancing an effort to redraw his state's map to flip five Republican seats. Democratic-controlled California is the nation's most populous state while Republican-led Texas is the second most populous. The Texas map would shift conservative voters into districts currently held by Democrats and combine some districts that Democrats hold. Other Republican states -- including Ohio, Florida, Indiana and Missouri -- are moving forward with or considering their own redistricting efforts, as are Democratic states such as Maryland and Illinois. Redistricting typically occurs every 10 years after the U.S. Census to account for population changes, and mid-decade redistricting has historically been unusual. In many states, lawmakers manipulate the lines to favor their party over the opposition, a practice known as gerrymandering. Texas Democrats on Wednesday raised multiple objections to and questions about the measure, slowing debate. Democratic Representative Chris Turner introduced an amendment to kill the bill, which did not pass. He said from the House floor that the redistricting bill was an "illegal and racially discriminatory Congressional map." "This body has no business passing it," Turner said. "This is unprecedented and it is wrong." Republicans argued the map was created to improve political performance and would increase majority Hispanic districts. Turner was among the Democrats who fled the state earlier this month to deny the Texas House a quorum. In response, Republicans undertook extraordinary measures to try to force the Democrats home, including filing lawsuits to remove them from office and issuing arrest warrants. The walkout ended when Democrats voluntarily returned on Monday, saying they had accomplished their goals of blocking a vote during a first special legislative session and persuading Democrats in other states to take retaliatory steps. Republican House leadership assigned state law enforcement officers to monitor Democrats to ensure they would not leave the state again. One Democratic representative, Nicole Collier, slept in the Capitol building on Monday night rather than accept a police escort. Republicans, including Trump, have openly acknowledged that the new map is aimed at increasing their political power. The party currently controls 25 of the state's 38 districts under a Republican-drawn map that was passed four years ago. Democrats and civil rights groups have said the new map dilutes the voting power of racial minorities in violation of federal law and have vowed to sue. Nationally, Republicans captured the 435-seat U.S. House in 2024 by only three seats. The party of the president historically loses House seats in the first midterm election, and Trump's approval ratings have sagged since he took office in January.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Oil prices climb 2% on drop in US crude inventories as investors focus on Ukraine peace push
NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed about 2% on Wednesday on a bigger-than-expected weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories as investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now. Brent crude futures were up $1.02, or 1.6%, to $66.81 a barrel by 1:05 p.m. EDT (1705 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 95 cents, or 1.5%, to $63.30. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said energy firms pulled 6.0 million barrels of crude from inventories during the week ended August 15. , That was bigger than the draw of 1.8 million barrels forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll and the decline of 2.4 million barrels that market sources said the American Petroleum Institute trade group cited in its figures on Tuesday. "We had a decent-sized crude drawdown. We saw a rebound in exports ... That and the strong refinery demand really makes this a bullish report," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. On Tuesday, crude prices fell more than 1% - with WTI closing at its lowest level since May 30 - on optimism that an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war seemed closer. U.S. President Donald Trump, however, conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal. "Much of the choppy price action has been driven by daily updates to the Ukraine/Russian negotiations that have gone back and forth from bearish to bullish as far as the impact on future oil balances is concerned," analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. Russia was the second-biggest producer of crude in 2024 behind the U.S., so any agreement that could ease sanctions on Moscow should boost the amount of Russian oil available for export to global markets. On Tuesday, Trump said he had ruled out putting U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine, but said the U.S. might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country. On Wednesday, Russia said attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow's participation were a "road to nowhere", sounding a warning to the West as it scrambles to work out guarantees for Kyiv's future protection. Russia, meanwhile, said it expects to continue supplying oil to India despite warnings from the U.S., Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow hopes trilateral talks will soon take place with India and China. Trump has announced an additional tariff of 25% on Indian goods exported to the U.S. from August 27, as a punishment for buying Russian oil. India's state-run refiners Indian Oil ( opens new tab and Bharat Petroleum ( opens new tab have bought Russian oil for September and October delivery, resuming purchases after discounts widened, two company officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. Russian forces have advanced in the east of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, taking the village of Novoheorhiivka close to the Donetsk region, Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday. "The likelihood of a quick resolution to the conflict with Russia now seems unlikely," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note. In other supply news, Iran said it believes the moment for "effective" nuclear talks with the U.S. has not yet arrived, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Iran was the third-biggest producer of crude in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2024 behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, so any agreement that could ease sanctions on Tehran should boost the amount of Iranian oil available for export to global markets. In Saudi Arabia, crude exports slipped in June to their lowest level in three months, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). In Norway, the second biggest oil producer in Europe after Russia, combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 3.9% in July, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD).
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Poll suggests CA Dems prefer Newsom over Harris in 2028
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is losing political altitude in her own backyard. A new poll suggests California Democrats prefer Gavin Newsom over Kamala Harris in a potential 2028 presidential primary. The Politico survey shows the California governor leading Harris with 25% support compared to her 19% among registered Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents in California. Moreover, less than a quarter of California Democrats - just 23 percent - are very excited about the prospect of another Harris presidential bid. The survey shows a clear majority - 58 percent - are 'not excited' about Harris 2028. California Democrats are a bit more enthusiastic for Newsom though 51 percent are still 'not excited.' As Democrats remain leaderless following Joe Biden 's exit from the White House , Newsom has emerged as a leading candidate to unite the party against Donald Trump . Meanwhile, Harris has largely remained largely out of the political fray since losing the general election to Trump in 2024. 'There's affection for her, but maybe less confidence that she would be a strong candidate,' said Jack Citrin, a UC Berkeley political science professor who helped author the poll. The survey does show Newsom and Harris would both be leading contenders in the California primary. However, Harris' inability to garner clear support in her own home state is a doomsday scenario for her chances to grab the nomination. '(Newsom is) in the news everyday. If you think someone is running, you're more likely to support them,' Citrin added. Harris also indicated that she's not looking to jump back into the political machine following her landslide loss to Trump. In July, the former vice president said she will not run for California governor ending months of speculation. Harris has also not consistently opposed the Trump administration compared to other Democratic contenders. In contrast, Newsom has spent most of his remaining term as governor publicly resisting Trump's political agenda, including by redrawing California political districts and opposing ICE immigration raids. Additionally, California under Newsom is suing the administration over Trump federalizing the state's National Guard amid anti-Trump protests in LA over the summer. In the past, Harris has struggled at securing the nomination in competitive Democratic primaries. During the 2020 Democratic election primary, she ended her campaign before voting even began in the Iowa caucus.
