Recently, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas would be redrawing its district lines for the upcoming election cycle, a move that could cost Democrats as many as five seats in the House.
In response, Texas legislators left the state in protest, reportedly meeting with other Democrat governors to gerrymander their state maps as a countermeasure.
Abbott and the state’s attorney general have responded, and Democrats may find themselves not only removed from office but also arrested if they do not return for the legislative session.
On Saturday, a Texas House panel advanced a draft of the new maps, which would add Republican districts to state maps.
Democrats balked at the maps, claiming the new lines would suppress the vote of people of color in the state.
Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) stated, "Different from everyone else, I'm telling you, I'm not beating around the bush. We have five new districts, and these five new districts are based on political performance."
Hunter later added, "Political performance does not guarantee electoral success — that's up to the candidates. But it does allow Republican candidates the opportunity to compete in these districts."
The Texas House has 150 members, and it needs 100 members to reach a quorum, so Democrats decided to leave the state to block the quorum, meaning the state legislature cannot vote on the new maps.
Roughly 57 Democrats abandoned the jurisdiction, with the majority of them heading to Illinois to meet with Gov. JB Pritzker. Other Democrats went to Boston and New York.
According to Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, Dems have no plans on returning anytime soon, as they are refusing to allow the maps to get to the floor for a vote.
Wu stated, "Gov. Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump so that Donald Trump can steal these communities’ power and voice. 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."
Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are fuming over the Democrats blocking the vote and abandoning their posts, and they are willing to bring out the big guns to get them back to Texas to floor this measure.
The governor has stated that he may move forward with removing these officials from their seats, and Paxton is willing to lock them up, stating that all members who have left the state "should be found and arrested no matter where they go."
Under the Texas Constitution, Article III, Section 13, Abbott stated that members who have been determined to have "forfeited his or her office due to abandonment" can be removed from office. Abbott further stated, "Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws," a felony under the Texas penal code.
Democrats have tried this tactic in the past, and it has failed, as they eventually returned home once Abbott applied pressure. My concern here is not the Texas maps, but how Democrats will react in larger states where they can virtually eliminate all red seats (think California and New York). This is war, but I am just not sure the GOP has enough cards to get a winning hand here.
NOTE: Arrest warrants have been issued for House Democrats who left town.
