Runaway Texas Dems Weigh a Return to Capitol

After almost two weeks of absence from their legislative duties, it appears the Texas state House Democrats who fled the state to prevent a vote on congressional redistricting may be making their return to the Capitol.

On Tuesday, a Houston ABC affiliate “confirmed with multiple sources that House Democrats will return to Texas.”

Ahead of the Texas House of Representatives’ consideration of a newly redrawn congressional map that would favor Republicans, Democrats fled the state on Aug. 3 in order to fall short of a quorum—the number of representatives required to be present for debate to proceed. 

This has temporarily frozen House activity as Republicans have repeatedly failed to reach the required minimum 100-member count to begin debate while Democrats remain in “blue” enclaves such as Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.

Republicans just need a handful of Democrats to return in order to pass a map that could hand the GOP five new congressional seats from the Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. On Monday, 95 representatives were present in the House, meaning Republicans need just five Democrats to return to Austin.

The Texas state Senate passed a redistricting bill Monday which draws a map identical to one proposed by Republican Rep. Todd Hunter in the House.

The Texas Democratic Caucus released a statement on X Tuesday, writing, “Members are still assessing their strategies going forward and are in a private meeting to make decisions about future plans currently.” 

The post continued, “If and when Texas House Democrats breaking quorum decide to go home is squarely dependent on the actions the governor, speaker, and Texas Republicans in charge make with regard to prioritizing flood victims over redistricting that hurts Texans.”

Texas Republicans in every branch of government have made threats against Democrats to expedite their return. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, for example, have both filed suits to remove absent Democrats from office for abandoning their office.

Paxton is additionally suing former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, for allegedly providing funds to finance the travel of the House Democrats—which he sees as an act of bribery. 

Republican Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows has attempted to encourage Democrats’ return through a few punitive measures, including requiring in-person collection of paychecks and issuing non-criminal warrants for their arrest. The absent Democrats face $500 daily fines for breaking quorum.

The Texas Democrats’ statement on a possible return comes after Abbott announced he and Republicans would end the special session Friday if Democrats still had not returned but that special sessions would continue in perpetuity.

“There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them,” said Abbott. “I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas First agenda passed.”

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