Texas redistricting fight continues as House fails to make a quorum on 5th try, Senate Democrats walk out in solidarity
Texas Republicans tried again to reconvene the House on Monday for a vote on redrawing congressional maps in their party's favor, an effort that already sparked a national political brawl and prompted Democratic lawmakers to leave the state to deny Republicans the quorum they need.
On the fourth try, the Texas House failed to make quorum, with 96 lawmakers present. When the House reconvened Tuesday morning, it failed to make a quorum again with 95 lawmakers present. The House will reconvene Friday at 10 a.m.
This special session will end on Aug. 19, but if a quorum is not met on Friday, it will close. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he will immediately call lawmakers back for a second special session with the exact same agenda.
"I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed," Abbott said.
As of Monday morning, some Democrats were still in Illinois and were joined by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and other legislative leaders to discuss harm they say the state's plan for a mid-decade redistricting could have on the country.
Senate Democrats walk out in solidarity
Around noon on Monday, nine Texas Senate Democrats walked off the Senate floor in protest of the pending vote on the new maps.
The Senate Democrats said they were showing solidarity with the House Democrats who broke quorum.
Despite this, the vote on the Senate floor did pass, 19-2, as a quorum was already met.
"Today, the Texas Senate passed the new congressional map, including 5 new Republican majority districts," Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. "The Texas Senate will continue passing this map each legislative session to accurately reflect our state until House Democrats return from their 'vacation' and get back to work for the people of Texas."
Gov. Abbott says Republicans want to add GOP congressional seats
On Monday, Abbott confirmed what Republican lawmakers have been saying - that beyond efforts to add five GOP congressional seats in the Lone Star State, there have been discussions about seeking to add as many as three more.
"What we are doing is looking at all options. We're looking at a lot of different alternatives in part to make sure we do have fairness," Abbott said in an exclusive interview with CBS News Texas on Monday. "If you compare Texas to California or Illinois or New York or Massachusetts, those states are truly gerrymandered and have hardly any Republicans."
When asked if Texas has also gerrymandered districts, the governor said, "Well, no, there's a higher percentage of Democrats in Texas than in the Congressional delegation than there are Republicans in California, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts. So if Texas were to draw its maps the way the Democratic states have drawn their maps it could means as maybe a ten seat pick-up."
Of California's 52 Congressional seats, Republicans serve in just nine. In Illinois, only 3 of the state's 17 Congressional districts are served by Republicans. In Texas, Democrats hold 13 of the state's 38 Congressional seats.
Democrats maintain walkout amid legal threats
As for the Democratic lawmakers who bolted from Texas — some of whom have been appearing alongside the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at news conferences — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state's Supreme Court to remove some of them from office or give them a 48-hour warning to return.
"If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol," said Abbott on "Fox News Sunday."
When pressed about blue states' threats to retaliate — such as Newsom's proposal to effectively cut five GOP-held seats in California — Abbott argued that many had already squeezed the juice out of their gerrymandering and would be hard-pressed to push it further.
Democratic leaders have said that Abbott's plans are nothing more than a power grab.
"They know that they're going to lose in 2026 the Congress, and so they're trying to steal seats," Pritzker said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
History shows Texas Democratic walkouts rarely succeed
Past attempts by Texas Democrats to halt votes by leaving the state were typically unsuccessful, and several of the blue states face more hurdles to redistricting than Texas does.
California, for example, has an independent commission that runs redistricting after each decade's census. Changes require approval from both voters and state lawmakers, who have said they plan to call a special election in November to set the process in motion.