Texas Democrats fled the state Sunday, aiming to delay a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map and give the GOP a bigger edge — an idea blessed by President Trump
Democratic state legislators fled Texas on Sunday in an attempt to deny a quorum to Republicans hoping to vote on a new congressional map that heavily favors the GOP even more than current districts.
State Rep. James Talarico confirmed in a message posted to social media that „my Democratic colleagues and I have just left our beloved state to break quorum and stop Trump’s redistricting power grab.“
Republicans unveiled the new maps earlier this week as part of a mid-decade redistricting in an attempt to protect the GOP’s razor-thin U.S. House majority. President Trump said in July that he believes Republicans could win five more seats in Texas with different districts.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott included redistricting to be addressed in a special legislative session, along with other high-profile topics like approving disaster relief for the deadly Texas floods and a THC ban.
Both houses of the Texas legislature are controlled by Republicans, but if most Democratic lawmakers leave the state, they could deny the state House and Senate the two-thirds quorum that they need to vote on the new congressional maps.
