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.
