Texas Democrats leave state to block bid to redraw congressional districts

By Ahmet Salih Alacaci

WASHINGTON (AA) - Democratic lawmakers in Texas left for Illinois on Sunday in a bid to derail an attempt to redraw congressional districts in Texas's House of Representatives, where Republicans hope to preserve their thin majority.

"As of today, this corrupt special session is over," Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement following the decision, meant to bar Republicans from holding a vote on the new congressional district map released last week.

"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," Wu added.

The special session had been called last month to address relief for devastating floods in central Texas that killed over 100 people.

Their departure would deny a quorum necessary for the redistricting effort requested by President Donald Trump, who is seeking to shore up his party's chances at maintaining its hold on the federal legislature in 2026. The map seeks to modify congressional district lines to eat into seats held by Democrats, particularly around the metropolises of Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Two Democratic-held districts near the border with Mexico were also affected.

"We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans,” said Wu, adding: “We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander."

For every day of absence, the Democrats face a $500 fine.

A House committee approved the proposal early on Saturday. After the vote, the committee's Republican chairman, Cody Vasut, told broadcaster NBC News that the move was "politically based."

He accused Democratic-majority states, including California and New York, "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."

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin three-seat majority in the House, and any ground that they could gain against Democrats come next year's races could serve to bolster their majority.