Democrats flee Texas to thwart GOP redistricting plan
Dozens of Democratic legislators fled Texas to deny Republicans a necessary quorum to implement an unusual redistricting map.
Roughly 30 Democrats will likely stay for a week in a plan worked out with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who met with them late last month and tasked his staff with providing logistical support for their out-of-state stay, after the state's Republicans released a proposed congressional map that would help them pick up five seats in next year's elections, reported NBC News.
“We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans,” said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu in a statement. “We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.”
President Donald Trump had been publicly pressuring the state's Republicans to redraw the map to help the GOP maintain congressional majorities in the upcoming midterm elections, and a House committee approved the gerrymandered congressional maps Saturday morning on a party-line vote.
“This map was politically based, and that’s totally legal, totally allowed and totally fair,” said Republican state Rep. Cody Vasut. “You got states like California and New York and Illinois that have these really large margins between the percentage of seats they have and the percentage of votes that they’re getting, and Texas is underperforming in that, and so it’s totally prudent, totally right, for Texas to be able to respond and improve the political performance of its map.”
The Texas legislature is set to reconvene Monday afternoon, with the redistricting bill listed as the only item on the calendar for now, and Democrats risk a $500-a-day fine and even possible arrest for leaving the state.