SAN ANTONIO – No-show Democratic state representatives have held off the adoption of a new congressional map that could lead to more Republican districts — at least, temporarily.
While Republicans back in Austin have threatened to take action against the legislators on the lam, their options could be limited.
Lacking the numbers to vote down what they called a “racist, gerrymandered map,” state House Democrats fled Texas and left a Monday afternoon Texas House session without enough members to officially begin the meeting and discuss the map.
Though the remaining members voted to issue civil arrest warrants for the missing state representatives, those only apply within the Lone Star State.
Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to remove the missing members, saying a court could determine a legislator has abandoned their office, which would allow him to “swiftly fill vacancies.”
However, Prof. Jon Taylor, chairman of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Department of Political Science and Geography, said it sounds like the Republican governor is “trying to grab at straws.”
“You still have members who are doing their jobs,” Taylor said. “They just have followed legislative procedures to prevent a quorum. Nothing more than that.”
Taylor also scoffed at Abbott’s suggestion the legislators may have broken bribery laws by soliciting donations to cover the daily $500 fines they’re incurring under state House rules.
“For the governor doing this, it allows him to posture on TV and say that, ‘We’re gonna do this sort of things.’ It helps his fundraising, helps his national stature,” Taylor said. “I mean, this is a guy who’s considering 2028. Let’s not kid ourselves here.“
The state’s mid-decade redistricting effort is rare and comes as President Donald Trump looks to avoid a mid-term flip of the U.S. House of Representatives during the mid-term.
The map pushed by Texas Republicans could help send another five Republicans to Washington D.C. in the 2026 elections.
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) said other states and the country are “waking up” and suggested other Democrat-controlled states could follow Texas’ example and redraw districts to support their party.
“If this is a race to the bottom and you’re going to try to cheat, we’ll meet you halfway,” Martinez Fischer told KSAT on Monday in a video interview from Illinois.
Apart from a tit-for-tat redistricting fight, Martinez Fischer did not say exactly what would convince House Democrats to return to Texas.
“I think you’re just going to have to wait and see like everybody else,” he said. “That’s the beauty of this quorum break. And we’re not going to telegraph that on an interview for anyone. I think that is the beauty of it. But we know this, we know that the country is responding. We know other states are acting and people are recognizing this is not just a small problem that only impacts the citizens of the state of Texas.”
Taylor said Democrats’ quorum breaking tactic could indeed help raise awareness or prompt retaliatory redistricting in other states.
However, it is unlikely to permanently stave off the newer, Republican-favored map.
Abbott will continue to call special legislative sessions until he “potentially get(s) his way” with redistricting, Taylor said, and Democrats "will likely basically have to say, ‘OK, you know what? We made a political point. We’re going to vote against this. People have seen what we’ve said and done. Let’s go to ’26 and go to the voters.’"
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