Fight and flight
Texas Democrats strike back in a new war between the states on gerrymandering
This past weekend, 57 of the 62 Texas House Democrats left Austin, most bound for Illinois, others for Massachusetts and New York. They plan to stay out of their home state as long as necessary to deny the Republican-controlled Texas legislature the quorum required to push through a surprise round of mid-cycle gerrymandering — redistricting to provide partisan advantage — that would grant Republicans even more outsize power in the U.S. House of Representatives by handing them five additional Texas seats.
It’s a move red-state legislatures across the country are making at the White House’s request to head off a possible 2026 Democratic victory, limiting the vote in such a way as to make a Republican minority an impossibility, no matter what the popular vote looks like.
And that's not something Texas House Democrats are willing to sign off on. As Caucus Chair Gene Wu (pictured above, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Texas Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer) told NBC News:
Gov. Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump so that Donald Trump can steal these communities’ power and voice," Wu said. "We will not be complicit in the destruction of our own communities. We're not here to play political games. We're here to demand an end to this corrupt process.
This isn’t the first time Texas Democrats have done this: denying quorum to block bills has been part of the Texas political playbook since the 19th century. The problem with such moves has typically been that it’s difficult for a minority party in exile to keep up the commitment. To block the legislature from voting on redistricting, Democrats would need to stay away from home into November — a serious financial, political, and possibly even criminal liability — and that’s easier said than done even in normal times. As The Texas Tribune explains,
The challenge for Democrats is that Gov. Greg Abbott can call unlimited special sessions lasting up to 30 days each. If Democrats break quorum during the current special session, which runs through late August, Abbott could immediately call another session the next day, and continue doing so indefinitely.
Even if Democrats managed to stay out of state until the November filing deadline, it could be possible for Republicans to simply hold a second round of primaries for the 2026 midterms according to Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
These aren’t, of course, normal times. For one, as Wu points out, this isn’t really about a state issue, and other blue states appear to be prepared to respond in kind and lend a hand to the Texas effort. And the Democratic Party itself is endorsing the fight.
“For weeks, we’ve been warning that if Republicans in Texas want a showdown — if they want to delay flood relief to cravenly protect Donald Trump from an inevitable midterm meltdown — then we’d give them that showdown,” Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “That’s exactly what Texas Democrats did today: blowing up Republicans’ sham special session that’s virtually ignored the plight of flood victims in Kerr County.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been the most visible Democrat nationally on the issue, promising to respond to the Texas Republicans by similarly gerrymandering California, which gave up the partisan practice during Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, a position, an aide told The New York Times, that Newsom also supports — in normal times:
“Governor Newsom has, his entire political career, supported independent redistricting and believes we are in a fire fight right now with Trump and Texas about to rig the election,” said Bob Salladay, Mr. Newsom’s spokesman.
Maybe that’s “going low.” In the long run, a gerrymandering arms race isn’t conducive to democracy, and given strong, long-term opposition to gerrymanders in California, it isn’t entirely clear that Newsom can deliver — there’s no straightforward process, so the effort would require a special election.
Opponents of the effort, such as Democratic California State Assemblyman Alex Lee, do have a point, one Newsom would likely concede.
But that’s in normal times. Even if two wrongs don’t make a right, doing things the “right” way isn’t necessarily the best way to correct a wrong. And not competing at all is likely no solution to competitive authoritarianism.
As Newsom told reporters last week:
I’m not going to sit back any longer in the fetal position, a position of weakness, when in fact, California can demonstrably advance strength.
But California isn’t the only state joining the Texas fight. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been involved in planning the walkout with Texas Democrats since June; now that the largest contingent of Texas lawmakers have arrived in Illinois, he’s promised to use the state’s resources to protect them.
“They’re here in Illinois. We’re going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them and make sure that — ’cause we know they’re doing the right thing, we know that they’re following the law,” Pritzker told reporters at a press conference Sunday night held alongside the Texas state lawmakers.
“It’s Ken Paxton who doesn’t follow the law. It’s the leaders of Texas who are attempting not to follow the law,” he continued, calling out Texas’s Republican attorney general by name. “They’re the ones that need to be held accountable.”
For his part, Texas Governor Abbot has threatened his Democratic colleagues with fines, expulsion, and even felony bribery charges should they not appear in the Texas House for this afternoon’s special session, even promising to pursue extradition of purported “out-of-state felons” — including people in other states who donate to or otherwise aid the Texas Democrats.
Even if Abbott is able to push through the redistricting and their protest ends up being largely symbolic, Texas Democrats, Newsom, Pritzker, and the Democratic Party are finally being honest about — and are facing up to — exactly what game they’re playing. For those who’ve been waiting for the Democratic Party to put up a real fight, it may be here at last.
The Texas Democratic Caucus responded to Abbott’s threats with a phrase familiar to Texans, borrowed back from its recent use by the far right in the interest of democracy.
“Come and take it.”
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A necessary tragedy. Finally the party has a strategy. Let’s see if “The Media” give it appropriate coverage in context
Heart stopping blatant provocation from the anti-freedom Republicans must be met with solid resistance. Bravo to the Texas Dems who are showing all of us what strength can come from non-cooperation to stop clear attempts to destroy fair voting. Will we join them by not participating in Trumps charade of absolute power. Where is the clarion call from Dem leadership? Gov Pritzker? Gov Newsome? Who will step forward and organize a Gandian style strike across the country?