Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state police to locate and arrest Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block a vote on a Republican-backed bill, after the Texas House of Representatives issued civil arrest warrants. The mechanism is allowed under the state’s rules to compel absent lawmakers to return.
“Today, I ordered the Texas Rangers to immediately investigate fleeing Texas House Democrats for potential bribery and any other potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes,” Abbott said in a statement. “That investigation should extend to anyone who aided or abetted such potential crimes.”
By leaving the state, the Democratic lawmakers denied the Texas House a quorum, the minimum number of members required to conduct official business. However, since those lawmakers left Texas, state police don’t have jurisdiction to arrest them unless they return to the Lone Star State. The Democrats are reportedly in Illinois, New York and Boston.
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Redistricting plan sparks walkout
The standoff began when more than 50 Democrats left Texas to block a vote on a redistricting map that would give Republicans an estimated five-seat gain in Congress. The proposed plan, backed by President Trump, would redraw voting districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Each Democrat could be fined $500 for every day they stay away.
“Instead of showing up to work and doing the jobs they were elected to do, House Democrat members have fled the state in a cowardly desertion of their responsibilities as elected officials. These jet-setting runaways abandoned Texas, abdicated their duties in the House, and sacrificed their constituents for a publicity stunt,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
Democrats denounce map as voter suppression
Texas Democrats are not backing down. They believe the proposed redistricting map unfairly reduces the political power of Black and Latino communities in Central Texas. They argue the map weakens these groups’ ability to vote effectively and choose their representatives — a form of voter suppression and a danger to democracy.
“Abbott has had every opportunity to address the needs of flood victims. However, the first vote of the session was not to fix the cracks in Texas’ emergency services, but to advance a redistricting plan designed to dilute the votes of Black and Brown Texans,” Texas House Democrats wrote in a post on X.
“We are about to leave the state because we are tired of the disenfranchisement of Black and Brown people. This is a bridge gone too far. We are tired of always having to fight for our existence, and sometimes you just have to resist. And that is what we’re doing,” state Rep. Toni Rose said.
2011 Wisconsin Democrats walkout to Illinois
In 2011, 14 Democratic state senators in Wisconsin left the state and fled to Illinois to block a vote on a controversial Republican-backed bill introduced by Gov. Scott Walker. Republicans eventually modified the bill to remove budgetary elements, which lowered the quorum requirement and allowed them to pass the legislation without the Democrats.
Ten years later, Texas Democrats left their state to deny Republicans a quorum to pass a voter reform bill.
