Texas Republicans get a bigger House edge under a new map, meeting Trump's goals
The new map would create five new Republican-leaning seats that Trump is seeking as his party looks to bolster its chances of maintaining its slim House majority. Republicans hope to pass it during a special 30-day session of the GOP-dominated Legislature called by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
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Toronto Star
12 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on redrawn House map backed by Trump
Texas Democrats are leaving the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. The dramatic move Sunday could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties — with the state's attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative session is a civil violation, however, so Democrats legally could not be jailed and it's unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants.
Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on redrawn House map backed by Trump
Texas Democrats are leaving the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. The dramatic move Sunday could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties — with the state's attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative session is a civil violation, however, so Democrats legally could not be jailed and it's unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants. Democrats have cast the decision to leave the state as a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans who hold full control of the Texas government from pushing through a rare mid-decade redrawing of the congressional map at the direction of President Donald Trump. 'This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,' said Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement. To conduct official business, at least 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber. At least 51 Democratic members are leaving the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus. 'Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal,' he said. The move marks the second time in four years that Texas Democrats have fled the state to block a vote. In 2021, a 38-day standoff took place when Democrats left for Washington in opposition to new voting restrictions. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session of the Legislature that started last month to take up the redistricting effort, as well as to respond to flooding in Texas Hill Country that killed at least 135 people in July. Trump has urged Texas Republicans to redraw the map to help the party net a handful of seats in the midterms next year. Texas Republicans last week unveiled their planned new U.S. House map that would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats. By leaving the state, Democrats are looking to block Republicans from the needed quorum to hold votes on the map set for Monday. The Texas House has rules to fine lawmakers $500 each day they break a quorum. GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton has said previously that if Democrats break quorum, 'they should be found and arrested no matter where they go.' 'My office stands ready to assist local, state, and federal authorities in hunting down and compelling the attendance of anyone who abandons their office and their constituents for cheap political theater,' Paxton said on the social media platform X on July 15. A large chunk of the Texas Democrats are heading to Illinois, where Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker had been in quiet talks with them for weeks about offering support if they chose to leave the state to break quorum. Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics during his second term. Last week, Pritzker hosted several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the redistricting effort. California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his own state. Pritzker also met privately with Texas Democratic Chair Kendall Scudder in June to begin planning for the possibility that lawmakers would depart for Illinois if they did decide to break quorum to block the map, according to a source with direct knowledge who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Now, with Texas Democrats holed up in Illinois and blocking the Trump-backed congressional map, the stage may be set for a high-profile showdown between Pritzker and the president. Trump is looking to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House just two years into his presidency, and hopes the new Texas map will aid that effort. Trump officials have also looked at redrawing lines in other states, such as Missouri, according to a person familiar with conversations but unauthorized to speak publicly about them.
Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Things to know about legislator walkouts as Texas Democrats flee state over a high-stakes map vote
Texas Democrats are fleeing the state Sunday in an effort to hinder Republicans from approving a new U.S. House map that could boost their slim congressional majority in 2026. The walkout lets the minority party keep Republicans in charge from having enough votes for maps that would add five new Republican-leaning congressional districts. The proposed boundaries slice up Democratic-leaning urban centers where most of the state's 30 million people live. Though such theatrics are uncommon, both parties have used walkouts to deny quorum in state Legislatures from Oregon to New Hampshire. In some places, walking off the job, whether for a day or months at a time, has led to punishments like fines, arrest threats or being booted from the ballot. 'We're leaving Texas to fight for Texans,' Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday. 'We're not walking out on our responsibilities; we're walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent.' Here's a closer look at how lawmakers around the country have used walkouts. Texas Four years ago, Texas Democrats walked off the job over a proposal for voting restrictions and fled to Washington D.C. While initially successful in killing the measure, they couldn't block the plan again during a special session when Republicans had law enforcement issue civil arrest warrants to bring Democrats back. The stalemate lasted more than a month. The bill prohibited 24-hour polling sites, banned drive-through voting and gave more access to partisan poll watchers. Democrats in the state used the same tactic in 2003, when House members went to Oklahoma and senators traveled to New Mexico. They failed to thwart a Republican congressional redistricting plan. Oregon Oregon legislators in both parties have boycotted daily sessions to halt work in one or both chambers since the 1970s. After several GOP walkouts, voters in 2022 approved an amendment to the state constitution barring lawmakers from seeking reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences in a single annual legislative session. In 2023, Republicans staged a six-week boycott — the longest in the Oregon Legislature's history — over measures protecting abortion rights and gender-affirming care for transgender people. Ten lawmakers were barred from seeking reelection the following year. New Hampshire In 2021, New Hampshire Democrats walked out when an anti-abortion bill came up for a vote, protesting what they saw as a partisan manipulation of the calendar. That prompted the Republican House speaker to lock the doors to maintain a quorum. 'I'm locking the doors right now so everybody in the chamber will stay in the chamber!' shouted House Speaker Sherman Packard, who later refused to let Democrats back in to vote on the bill. Wisconsin Democratic state senators from Wisconsin fled to neighboring Illinois in 2011, blocking a vote on GOP Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip most public workers of their union rights. At the same time, pro-union protesters descended on the state Capitol. The stalemate ended several weeks later after Republicans weakened their legislation. Indiana Indiana Democrats left the state for Illinois in 2011 to prevent a Republican bill prohibiting mandatory labor union fees. The absence of Democrats left the House short of the two-thirds needed for a quorum. Democrats threatened to stay in Illinois until they received assurances from top leaders that the bills would not be called, while Republican leaders said they wouldn't negotiate with legislators who didn't show up to their jobs. Republicans successfully passed the bill the following year.
