Texas Democrats Leave the State to Prevent Redistricting Vote

Democratic lawmakers left the state of Texas on Aug. 3 in a dramatic escalation meant to block the consideration of a bill to redraw the state’s congressional maps, intended to increase Republicans’ hold on the lower chamber.

“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement.

The move is intended as a last-ditch attempt to block Republicans from holding a vote on legislation to redraw several Democratic districts in the state to be more favorable to Republicans after they alleged previous gerrymandering by the other side. Democrats have threatened such a walkout for weeks to prevent passage of the legislation through the Republican-dominated state government.

“Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal,” Wu said.

Meanwhile, Republicans are moving forward during a special session of the Legislature with a plan to redraw Texas’s congressional maps in line with a demand from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ), which has said that some of the state’s congressional districts may be illegal.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened consequences ranging from fines to arrests if Democrats left the state.

In a post on X after news that Democrats had left the state broke, Paxton said that Texas should use every tool at its disposal to “hunt down those who think they are above the law.”

“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he wrote.

Under Texas state law, refusing to attend a legislative session is a civil violation, so Democrats can’t legally be jailed for the offense.

The DOJ has stated that several Texas congressional districts are “coalition districts,” describing a situation where multiple minority groups are intentionally gathered in a single district such that minority voters make up a majority in the district. Such districts are illegal under the Voting Rights Act.

Trump on July 15 expressed hope that Republicans may be able to pick up as many as five House seats through a “simple redrawing.”

Like its counterparts in other states and the federal government, the Texas Legislature must have a quorum—a sufficient number of lawmakers—to conduct business. In the Lone Star State, two-thirds of lawmakers must be present to conduct any legislative business. That applies to both chambers of the Legislature.

That means 100 members of the 150-member state House must be present. Democrats hold 62 seats in the chamber. At least 51 of these are leaving the state, according to a spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus.

This isn’t the first time Texas Democrats have left the state to prevent consideration of controversial legislation. In 2021, Texas Democrats retreated to Washington, D.C., during a 38-day standoff revolving around election legislation.

Abbott Threatens to Remove Democrats

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said in an Aug. 3 statement that Texas House Democrats face losing their seats if they do not return for the vote.

Abbot said the Democrats had intentionally planned not to show up for work, thereby abdicating their duties and attempting to thwart the chamber’s business.

“That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office,” he said, adding that when the governor calls a special session, attendance is not optional—it’s a duty.

“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025,” Abbott stated.

The governor referenced a nonbinding 2021 legal opinion issued by Paxton, which suggested a court could determine that a lawmaker had forfeited their office, thereby removing the legislator and creating a vacancy, vacancies that Abbott said he would swiftly fill.

In response, Texas House Democrats issued the four-word statement “Come and take it.”

A vote on the proposed maps is scheduled for Aug. 4 in the Texas House of Representatives.