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AUSTIN, Texas (CN) – Texas’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to have Democrats, who fled to Chicago to block redistricting legislation, removed from office and prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law.
The governor’s threat was conveyed in a statement sent to every member of the Texas House who has intentionally left the state.
“Every session, legislators on both sides of the aisle find themselves on the losing side of a legislative vote,” Abbott wrote. “And every session, most of those legislators find a way to disagree agreeably and behave like adults, rather than going AWOL.”
Since the special session began on July 21, Democrats are fleeing the state to block redistricting. The likelihood of their departure increased as House Republicans prioritized the political map over other issues, such as flood relief and recovery.
The Texas House’s redistricting plan, outlined in House Bill 4, would redraw nearly all 38 congressional districts. The proposed map could give Republicans up to five additional seats, including in the Rio Grande region and major cities like Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
Governor Greg Abbott, citing a legal opinion from the Texas Attorney General, said he has the authority to nullify Democrats’ memberships in the Texas House of Representatives.
Responding to the governor, the Texas House Democratic Caucus issued a joint statement that simply stated, “Come and take it.”
Democrats’ quorum break became official at 3:00 p.m. Monday, when Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled in but couldn’t conduct business without a two-thirds majority. The remaining members, mostly Republicans, voted to issue a “call of the House,” effectively authorizing arrests of absent lawmakers. Each missing representative also faces a $500 daily fine.
During a press conference, Burrows painted the Democrats, similarly to Abbott, as elected officials who have abandoned their duty.
“I am disappointed that while these members are here reporting for their duty under the Constitution, others are out of the state, in New York, in Chicago, in places they do not represent, obviously getting lots of attention at this time,” Burrows said.
Following the Burrows’ conference, Abbott issued a statement, saying that he has ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to “ locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.”
According to the attorney general’s opinion, a state district judge must decide whether elected officials have forfeited their offices, setting up a potential legal battle atop the redistricting fight.
Representative Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat and former Texas House Democratic Caucus leader, said at a Sunday press conference in Chicago that House Democrats are exercising their right under the state constitution to fight for their constituents.
“We are all elected to fight for the people we represent, and that is exactly what we are doing here today,” Turner said.
“Donald Trump wants more power, that is what this is about,” Turner said. “He wants to face no accountability and no consequences. And that is why he is demanding that Texas rig our congressional districts.”
In addition to the Democrats held up in Chicago, Turner said that other members have been dispatched to state capitols in Albany, New York and Boston, Massachusetts, to speak with lawmakers about the redistricting push happening in Texas.
Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker joined the Texas lawmakers at their press conference and said their action to stall the legislature’s consideration of new maps was a “righteous act of courage.”
“Texas Republicans submitted to the president’s orders and took steps to advance Trump’s Texas takeover,” Pritzker said. “And while Texas Democrats have been trying to work across the aisle to deliver disaster relief after the devastating floods in Central Texas, Republicans chose to use the tragedy as political cover to cheat.”
House Democrats countered that the maps go beyond partisanship, diluting Black and Latino voting power by splitting communities and merging them with rural areas, arguing this violates the Voting Rights Act.
After being voted out of committee on Saturday in a party-line vote of 12 to 6, HB 4 now awaits consideration of all House members. An action that will be left waiting unless a quorum can be restored.
House Democrats have used quorum breaks before, most notably in 2021 to block GOP-backed voting restrictions. In this instance, lawmakers fled to Washington, D.C., to push for federal protections but ultimately returned, and Republicans passed the legislation, ultimately achieving their objectives.
Because Abbott can call unlimited special sessions, leaving the state is largely symbolic, even if it draws national attention.
With the current session set to end on Aug. 19, all guesses will now be on how long Democrats will be able to stay away from their families, communities and the Lone Star State they call home.
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