Related video: Gov. Pritzker meets with Texas Dems working to block vote on redistricting plan
While US president Donald Trump's administration loves seeing images of planes leaving the country with deported individuals on board, we imagine the Republican isn’t too keen on images of Texas Democrats boarding a plane with the intention of “breaking quorum”, stopping the House from voting through plans to change the congressional map of the state.
It’s not the first time that Texas legislators have staged a walkout, as Democrats left the House back in 2021 to curtail a vote on voting laws.
Allow us to get you up to speed…
What does the proposed redistricting map look like?
The Texas Tribune reports that the plans carve up districts in Houston, Austin and Dallas to create five extra ones which would have voted for Trump in 2024.
Put another way, the outlet says Republicans currently hold two-thirds (66 per cent) of Texas’ House seats, with the new proposals looking to bump that percentage up to 79 per cent.
What is meant by ‘quorum’?
It concerns the number of attendees required in order to carry out business. In the case of the Texas House of Representatives, that’s two-thirds.
There’s 150 members in total, so that requires at least 100 members to show up.
Following the 2024 election, the makeup of the House was 88-62 to the Republicans, so even if all of the local GOP representatives showed up, they would still need 12 Democrats to reach quorum.
According to Forbes, more than 50 lawmakers have left the state.
House Democrats label redistricting plan a “Trump gerrymander”
In a collective statement, the Texas House Democrats declared that the “corrupt special session is over”.
They said: “For two weeks, while families in the Hill Country mourned the loss of over 130 Texans in catastrophic floods, Democrats fought to make their relief the legislature’s top priority. Instead, Governor Abbott and Republican leadership used the tragedy as political cover.
“After thousands of Texans testified against this corrupt bargain in hearings across the state, their pleas were ignored.
“Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander.”
Democrat representatives also published their own individual statements explaining their decision, with Lulu Flores suggesting Republicans “use their new maps” if they “need a tissue to cry into”:
Representative Ramón Romero branded the “racist” map, and plans to push it through, the “destruction of America”:
Rafael Anchía said the redistricting plans are “not only un-American, but also illegal”:
While Diego Bernal wrote: “We aren’t going to help Republican Texas [sic] bend the knee to a tyrant who’s afraid of his own people.”
Several Democrats issued statements alongside images and videos of them boarding a plane out of the state.
Illinois governor JB Pritzker slams Trump’s “Texas takeover”
- YouTube www.youtube.com
In a press conference held on Sunday, Pritzker called out Texan Republicans for “submitting to the president’s orders”.
He said: “As his cruel agenda reared its ugly head, Trump saw his poll numbers tanking, and has begun to see that Republicans will likely lose control of Congress in 2026.
“So Trump came up with a new scheme: rig the system, by ramming through a corrupt, mid-decade redistricting plan, that would steal five congressional seats, silencing millions of voices – especially Black and Latino voters.
“Let’s be clear, this is not just rigging the system in Texas, it’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.”
Fellow Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, of California, has also thrown his support behind his colleagues, writing on Twitter/X that “this is what fighting for democracy looks like”.
Texas Republicans call for the arrest of departing Democrats
Needless to say, the Republican Party of Texas isn’t that happy with local Democrats and the action they’ve taken, as they issued their own remarks on Sunday attacking their political rivals – accusing them of ‘weaponizing chaos’ and ‘rewriting reality’.
The local party’s statement reads: “While Texas Republicans are working to ensure fair and lawful redistricting that reflects the will of Texans, Democrats are choosing obstruction over representation, denying voters their voice to score political headlines.
“We will continue advancing responsible redistricting that honors communities, protects representation, and rejects the narrative that chaos equals courage. The people of Texas see through the games.”
They go on to add that Texas Democrats are “not above the law” and that “accountability is not optional”.
The statement continues: “Representation cannot be bypassed by cowardly retreat. Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.
“We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
The same comments were shared by the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton.
Texas governor Greg Abbott tells Democrats: ‘This truancy ends now'
While the governor of Illinois, as a Democrat, is on the side of his Texas colleagues, the governor of the state itself – Republican Greg Abbott – certainly isn’t.
On Sunday, he said: “Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did.
“Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.”
He went on to order Democrats who have left the state to return to the House at 3pm on Monday, warning that he will look to remove them from membership in the House.
With absent members facing fines for each day they do not sit in the House, Abbott also said Democrats “may have violated bribery laws” if they solicit funds to evade such penalties.
Democrats clapped back at Abbott with just four words: “Come and take it.”
Trump claims redistricting plan is a ‘very simple redraw’
While Trump does not appear to have addressed the Democrats’ walkout on his social media channels just yet, the US president did comment on the redistricting plans last month, arguing it is a “very simple redraw”.
“We pick up five seats. We have a couple of other states where we will pick up seats also,” he said.
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