Texas House Democrats departed Texas in protest of a vote on redistricting. This isn’t the only time they’ve left the state in protest of a vote.
Texas House Democrats departed the state Sunday in an attempt to halt a redistricting Monday vote, claiming that the legislation is « using an intentionally racist map » to undermine the voices of Black and Latino voters in the state of Texas.
Democrats’ absence means that Republicans are unable to go ahead with a scheduled vote under House rules, blocking the potential passage of redistricting legislation that would establish a new congressional map that could lead to five new GOP U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
« This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity », state Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday.
Most of the House Democrats fled to Chicago, while others headed to New York and Boston.
The Texas House stipulates that at least 100 members of the 150-member chamber must be present to conduct business, and roughly 50 Democrats are absent — meaning the vote is stalled until they return.
