Texas Legislature to take another swing at redistricting vote as Democrats extend their walkout

Boston Globe

15 hours ago

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he'll call lawmakers back to the Statehouse again and again until enough Democrats show up to reach the 100-member threshold required to vote on the bill. Democratic leaders in other states are planning out their retaliatory redistricting plans if Abbott succeeds.
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'Texas, knock it off. We'll knock it off. Let's get back to governing,' said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on 'Fox News Sunday.'
As for the Democratic lawmakers who bolted from Texas — some of whom have been appearing alongside the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at news conferences — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state's Supreme Court to remove some of them from office or give them a 48-hour warning to return.
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'If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol,' said Abbott on 'Fox News Sunday.'
When pressed about blue states' threats to retaliate — such as Newsom's proposal to effectiveely cut five GOP-held seats in California — Abbott argued that many had already squeezed the juice out of their gerrymandering and would be hard-pressed to push it further.
Democratic leaders say Abbott's plans are nothing more than a power grab.
'They know that they're going to lose in 2026 the Congress, and so they're trying to steal seats,' Pritzker said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
Past attempts by Texas Democrats to halt votes by leaving the state were typically unsuccessful, and several of the blue states face more hurdles to redistricting than Texas does.
California, for example, has an independent commission that runs redistricting after each decade's census. Changes require approval from both voters and state lawmakers, who have said they plan to call a special election in November to set the process in motion.