A Texas Democrat sleeps at the Capitol to protest GOP actions in Texas redistricting fight

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier refused to come to the state Capitol for two weeks. Now she won't leave.
Collier was among dozens of Democrats whose walkout to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York delayed the passage of redrawn congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump. When they returned Monday, Republicans insisted the Democrats have around-the-clock police escorts to ensure they wouldn't leave again.
But Collier declined to sign what Democrats called a 'permission slip' agreeing to have Department of Public Safety troopers follow them so that they could leave the Texas House chamber. So she spent Monday night and into Tuesday on the House floor, where she set up a livestream from the chamber while her Democratic colleagues outside had plainclothes officers following them to their offices and homes.
Collier said having officers shadow her was an attack on her dignity and an attempt to control her movements.
'We need to shake things up and make some good trouble to have good change,' Collier said in a video Tuesday morning.
The trooper assignments, ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, was another escalation of a redistricting battle that has widened across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials to tilt the map for the 2026 midterms more in his favor to preserve the GOP's slim House majority, and Democrats nationally have rallied around efforts to retaliate.
'They're following us everywhere,' said Houston-area Democratic Rep. Suleman Lalani. 'That's a very uncertain feeling that you have — that whatever you do, wherever you go, somebody's following you, somebody's behind the car.'
The House was scheduled to vote Wednesday on the GOP plan, which is designed to send five additional Republicans from Texas to the U.S. House. Texas Democrats returned to Austin after Democrats in California launched an effort to redraw their state's districts to take five seats back from Republicans.
Under the House's rules, the permission slips are needed to leave the House floor, though it wasn't clear how strictly that was being enforced.
Wu, from Houston, and state Rep. Vincel Perez, of El Paso, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents a minority-majority district in Fort Worth. Throughout the day, Democrats visited Collier on the floor, which has a lounge and restrooms for members.
Suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa suggested that Burrows was trying to appease GOP colleagues who want Democrats punished.
Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the state Supreme Court to oust Wu and several other Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent.
'This is more of an intimidation factor for the public — 'if we can do this to them, we can do it to you,'' Plesa said Tuesday from the House floor.
Burrows dismissed Collier's protest, saying he was focused on important issues, such as providing property tax relief and responding to last month's deadly floods. His statement did not mention redistricting.
'Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules,' Burrows said.
Under those rules, until Wednesday's scheduled vote, the chamber's doors are locked, and no member can leave 'without the written permission of the speaker.'
Burrows' office declined to discuss the details of how officers were shadowing Democrats and the Department of Public Safety did not respond to an email message.
Republicans want to ensure that the House has the 100 of 150 members present it needs to do business Wednesday.
But Democrats said officers followed them in hallways and some even stayed in their offices. Plesa said she was tailed back to her apartment in Austin, and she saw an officer in an unmarked car watching her as she left Tuesday morning for the Capitol.
Republicans argued that Democrats abandoned their duties for two weeks, preventing action on range of multiple issues, including flood relief and redistricting. Democrats' absence forced Republicans to adjourn a special session, though Gov. Greg Abbott called a second one before the first one had ended Friday.
Democrats derided the shadowing as a waste of taxpayer dollars that took officers away from investigations of serious crimes.
'It's ludicrous,' Houston Democratic Rep. Armando Walle said. 'Do they really think we want to break quorum again, after being gone for two weeks — away from our family and our businesses?'
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas, and Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.