Texas Home Democrats who fled the state to dam a GOP-gerrymandered congressional map are staking their floor, signaling they gained’t return until Gov. Greg Abbott meets their circumstances for the next particular session—one he’s threatened to name as quickly as Friday.
Regardless of earlier hypothesis that Democrats would possibly return this weekend, Texas Home Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu made clear on Wednesday that his colleagues are ready to once more deny the quorum wanted to move the GOP maps.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
“What happens next is entirely up to Greg Abbott. After deliberation among our caucus, we have reached a consensus: Texas House Democrats refuse to give him a quorum to pass his racist maps that silence more than 2 million Black and Latino Texans,” Wu’s assertion learn. “Texas House Democrats will issue our demands for a second special session on Friday. Abbott can choose to govern for Texas families, or he can keep serving Trump and face the consequences we’ve unleashed nationwide.”
Abbott has but to reply to the Democrats’ calls for, however he’s already signaling a tough line. On Tuesday, he introduced that he’ll name a second particular session “immediately” after the present one adjourns on Friday.
“The Special Session #2 agenda will have the exact same agenda, with the potential to add more items critical to Texans. There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them,” Abbott’s workplace stated.
The standoff is paying homage to 2021, when Texas Democrats staged a walkout over a voting rights invoice—some returning after a quick absence, whereas others held out till the invoice’s last passage. However this time, Abbott has vowed to maintain calling particular classes till his map passes.
Regardless of Abbott’s repeated threats—which have ranged from calling the FBI on absent Democrats to threatening their seats and even arrest—Democrats are claiming some early wins. In a Tuesday press launch, they declared that they’d “killed this corrupt special session on behalf of Texas families—exactly what we said we’d do when we left the state.”
Certainly, whereas they’ve efficiently gained nationwide consideration for slowing Republicans’ efforts to safe extra GOP seats forward of the 2026 midterm elections, the struggle is way from over.
On Tuesday, Texas Senate Republicans authorized new congressional traces, with 9 Democrats strolling out in protest. The map now strikes to the Home, the place, if Democrats return to the chamber, it’s unclear how they might block it—particularly if Abbott follows by way of on his risk to carve up much more districts as punishment.
To this point, Democrats’ absence has been their solely weapon. But when Abbott escalates, the standoff might backfire in opposition to them.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
“BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM—YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR—THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR ‘MAGA.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN,” he added.
He additionally vowed to push a November poll measure to create extra Democratic-leaning districts, regardless that an impartial fee attracts California’s maps.
California’s transfer might encourage different blue states to comply with swimsuit. And in the event that they do, Trump’s gamble could implode, handing Democrats a gap to blunt Texas’s good points and probably tilt the 2026 map of their favor.
