Latest news with #RepublicanSeats
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas Democrats could be fined nearly $400,000 for fleeing the state
Texas Democrats stand to be fined nearly $400,000 for fleeing the state in a gambit to stop Republican-led redistricting. And should they stay away during potential successive legislative sessions this year, they'd face more than $3.2 million in penalties. Those figures, which POLITICO calculated based on the fewest lawmakers needed to break quorum, the anticipated length of their out-of-state trips and the $500-per-day fine they're incurring, reveal how much pain Democrats are willing to sustain in order to thwart President Donald Trump's push to remap Texas to create five more Republican seats. It's also an early indication of how bitter this burgeoning feud is becoming as states across the country consider mid-decade redistricting pushes in a contest over control of the House next year. Under Texas House rules, each lawmaker is fined $500 per day for missing official business without permission. To break quorum, at least 51 Democrats must be absent, meaning at minimum they will be charged a combined $25,500 per day. On Monday, 57 Democrats skipped session after flying to blue states, bringing the penalties to $28,500 — although it was unclear how many absences were due to the gerrymandering protest. Should Democrats refuse to return for the length of the entire special legislative session, which will end on Aug. 19, they could rack up fines totaling at least $382,500. And if Republican Gov. Greg Abbott chooses to call additional special sessions to pass the redrawn map at Trump's request — and Democrats remain out of state in defiance — those fines will pile up. If they hold out until Texas' Dec. 8 candidate filing deadline, the penalties would exceed $3.2 million. But the fleeing lawmakers said they were not deterred by the fines, nor by Abbott's threats to arrest them or vacate their offices. 'We'll deal with the consequences later,' said Texas Rep. John Bucy, who joined his colleagues in decamping to Illinois Sunday. 'That's not the important thing right now. It's stopping Donald Trump from stealing the congressional map and winning the midterm elections through cheating.' This marks the first test of whether Republicans in the legislature chose to impose fines on fellow members. Texas lawmakers added the daily fines to the House rules in 2023 to punish future quorum-breakers after Democrats fled the state in opposition to GOP voting restrictions in 2021. Texas Democrats believe the fines may be an empty threat and are doubtful Republicans have the authority to order them to pay. 'This is a house rule,' said Andrew Cates, a campaign finance lawyer in Texas. 'This is not a law. … How the hell are they going to collect it? How are they going to enforce it?' It's unclear exactly who will pay the fines, and state law prevents the lawmakers from using campaign cash to foot the bill. Texas Democrats think they found a loophole around the rule, though they did not provide any specificity. In the leadup to the walkout, national Democrats promised to help their Texas counterparts with financial support. Powered by the People, a political group founded by former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), is one of the top funders paying for expenses incurred by the members, according to the Texas Tribune. Texas Majority PAC, a George Soros-linked group devoted to electing Democrats, has also been working on gathering donors. 'Anything we [as members of Congress] can do legally, we are absolutely going to do it,' Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said from Illinois Monday. She said Democrats sought guidance on fundraising for the effort. 'When we're soliciting, we're trying to make sure that we're complying with federal laws,' she added. 'As soon as we get the full clarification, we're going to do whatever we can to support them as long as we function within the law.' Abbott has said any lawmaker who takes money to pay their fines could be charged with bribery, a second-degree felony in Texas. That threat seems to rest on an aggressive reading of Texas' public bribery statute. State law makes it a felony to accept political contributions as part of an 'express agreement to take or withhold' official actions. However, the law also says such a contribution only amounts to a crime if the lawmakers' decision 'would not have been taken or withheld but for the benefit.' That may be hard to prove when lawmakers had signaled for weeks that they were considering this mass exodus as a last resort to block Texas' redistricting measure. And that's not the only hurdle Abbott would need to clear: The law mandates 'direct evidence' of such a purportedly corrupt agreement — not just circumstantial proof. That means Texas prosecutors would need some kind of eyewitness testimony, written or electronic communications or other form of clear proof that the Democrats only agreed to break quorum because of the promise of a financial benefit. If high-dollar donors can't pay the bills, the fines will stack up fast for lawmakers, who only make $7,200 per year for their legislative work, which is often conducted in addition to another career. The rising costs underscore the risk Democrats are taking. They are not only navigating the difficult economics, but there are political vulnerabilities, too. While their goal is to stymie the Trump-backed congressional map, they are also halting the legislature's other work in the session, including potential relief efforts after last month's devastating floods. Other Democrats have quickly capitalized on the Texans who left the state for their own fundraising efforts. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and O'Rourke both sent fundraising emails — split with Powered by People — praising the lawmakers for decamping. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also fundraising off the effort, sending an email signed by Crockett, who participated in the 2021 walkout as a state lawmaker. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows called out the price Democrats will have to pay during a speech from the dais on Monday. 'To be absolutely clear, leaving the state does not stop this house from doing its work, it only delays it, and every day this chamber is unable to act, the cost grows,' Burrows said. 'If you choose to continue down this road, you should know there will be consequences.' Shia Kapos and Kyle Cheney contributed reporting.
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mid-decade redistricting could be risky move for Florida Republicans
TALLAHASSEE — While the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature wages 'maximum warfare' to carve new GOP House seats for the 2026 election and solidify President Trump's lock on Congress, significant obstacles impede Gov. Ron DeSantis' desire to do the same in Florida. The Texas legislature met in a special session at Trump's request and quickly came up with a new gerrymandered congressional district map that would take away up to five seats from the Democrats. That spurred Democrats to leave the state to prevent a vote on the new map, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in turn has threatened to oust them from office. Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he thinks Florida could come up with three to five new Republican seats, based on conversations he's had with the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but he has stopped short of calling for a special session himself. 'We're looking at it seriously. I would look favorably to the legislature taking it up, so stay tuned on that,' DeSantis said last week at a news conference. But Rep. Alex Andrade, a top Republican from Pensacola, said Monday that DeSantis is 'not in a position to force us to do anything that we don't think is a good idea. All we'd have as an impetus for this is partisanship.' House Democratic leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa said she does not 'trust a word coming out of DeSantis' mouth about redistricting because it's all coming from Trump.' This is about Florida getting more Republican seats positioning himself for another run for president in 2028, she said. 'He is more concerned about posturing for his next political opportunity than concern about the well-being of the people of Florida,' Driskell said. So far, Florida legislative leaders have remained silent on holding a special session on redistricting, which would be a massive, expensive logistical process. And there appears to be little appetite among Republican members of Florida's congressional delegation, many of whom are gearing up for reelection and unlikely to want to change their voter base. DeSantis vetoed the Legislature's last attempt at drawing new congressional district lines and forced his own map on them in 2022, one that eliminated two Black congressional districts and spurred lawsuits from voting rights groups. The map was upheld by both the federal courts and the Florida Supreme Court. But his grip on the Legislature has slipped since he strong-armed voting districts on them. When he tried to impose his will on the Legislature in January over immigration enforcement, the Legislature rejected his plans and passed several bills of their own, creating a standoff that was resolved by a compromise. Andrade, who served as the House health care budget chief last session, said he speaks with House Speaker Danny Perez of Miami once a week, said he 'hasn't heard anything on redistricting' from the leadership. The impetus and data required for an accurate, constitutional mid-decade redistricting isn't there, he said. 'Odds are we'd be redistricting with no real basis, and drawing partisan lines.' It would also violate the state constitution, which prohibits redrawing lines for political purposes. 'If maps were to get litigated with no other justifiable reason than political gain, we would lose in court.' Andrade said. 'There has to be some other justification for me to take it seriously.' When they drew up their congressional map based on the 2020 census three years ago, Andrade said, 'We had to bend over backwards to avoid looking partisan.' The Legislature's map would have given Republicans two additional seats. But DeSantis's map gave the GOP four seats, giving its congressional delegation a 20-8 majority and helping secure the party's narrow control of Congress in the last two elections. It would be impossible to avoid partisanship without conducting a new census, Andrade said. DeSantis said it would be difficult given the short time frame between now and the mid-terms. 'Now they'd have to do that relatively soon, because you need time to draw maps and you need time to get that done,' DeSantis said. Redistricting is traditionally done every 10 years following the census to determine how many seats each state gets in the 435-member House of Representatives and to distribute federal funds. DeSantis said the population has grown enough to require a mid-decade census and reapportionment. DeSantis said the state was cheated out of a second new congressional seat during the last round of reapportionment because the census was poorly conducted, but Democrats said he had a chance to prevent that from happening. Democrats pushed to create a committee in 2019 to oversee the census count to make sure Florida residents didn't get undercounted and ensure that citizens get the full number of representatives they deserve. DeSantis rejected that plan, saying it wasn't the state's responsibility to make sure everyone got counted. He also said he didn't want to spend state money counting the heads of noncitizens. 'The census was off because DeSantis failed to work aggressively with local governments and community groups to make sure the marginalized populations were not undercounted,' said Daniel Smith, head of the political science department at the University of Florida. DeSantis wants a mid-decade census that counts only the people who are legally allowed to be in the U.S. But the Constitution requires 'an enumeration' of the people in each state every 10 years, and gives Congress broad powers to decide how to accomplish that, Smith said. 'You don't get to choose who you count.' Smith said the governor has painted himself into a corner by not wanting to count noncitizens, because they're the reason Florida got an extra seat at all. 'You take those people out of the equation and Florida is going to lose seats,' Smith said. Matt Isbell, a Democrat consultant who specializes in analyzing election results by district and precinct level, said DeSantis is 'full of nonsense.' Conducting a mid-cycle census would be a massive, expensive undertaking that may not even produce the result that DeSantis wants, he said. 'It's a gamble. You risk losing seats and right now you have 20 solid Republican seats,' Isbell said. Driskell said redistricting could easily backfire on the GOP. 'You never know what issue would be to get voters to have a change of heart,' she said. 'Voters care about having their representation taken away.'
Fox News
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Beto encourages Democrats to fight 'fire with fire' in Texas redistricting fight
Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke says that Democrats need to fight Republican legislation that could add more Republican seats to the state.
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Abbott Asks Lawmakers to Redraw Texas' Congressional Maps in Special Session
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called on lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional maps when they convene in a special session later this month, in a bid to gain Republican seats and help the party keep control of the House in 2026. Mr. Abbott announced the request in a legislative agenda released on Wednesday. He also called on lawmakers to improve how the state prepares for and responds to floods, like the ones that ripped through Texas Hill Country last week and have killed more than 100 people. President Trump's political team has pushed Texas to redraw its maps in hopes of creating new Republican seats. But the idea has not been well received across the current congressional delegation in the state, which The New York Times first reported last month. Texas currently has 38 seats, 25 held by Republicans, 12 by Democrats and one vacancy in a solidly Democratic district. Current members of Congress would very likely see some of the Republican voters in their districts shifted to new districts. In his call to draw new seats, Mr. Abbott's order cited 'constitutional concerns' that he said had been raised by the Justice Department about the existing lines. In a letter to the governor on July 7, Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general in the civil rights division of the Justice Department and a former Trump campaign lawyer, wrote that there had been 'unconstitutional racial gerrymanders' in Texas in four districts. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
