Texas Democrats are leaving the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
The dramatic move Sunday could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties — with the state’s attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative session is a civil violation, however, so Democrats legally could not be jailed and it’s unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants.
Democrats have cast the decision to leave the state as a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans who hold full control of the Texas government from pushing through a rare mid-decade redrawing of the congressional map at the direction of President Donald Trump.
Watch Republicans just vote for it and it goes into effect. Not like Republicans care about rules or laws.
If there’s anything nice I can say about the Texas Legislature, it’s that they like their rules and procedures. If they were to violate the rules in that way, we’d be entering an even darker moment in Texas politics
Other slightly less worrisome and actually more likely worst case scenario.
Well, it’s not like anyone else is trying to stop them or anything. The ones who are supposed to are either sitting at home, or have left the state.