Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says state House Democrats who fled the state over a voting bill will be arrested upon return.
A large group of Texas Democrats arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday after leaving the state to block Republicans from enacting new voting restrictions.
As NBC News notes, under the Texas Constitution, to conduct state business in either chamber, the Legislature requires a quorum of two-thirds of lawmakers to be present. Lawmakers who are not present can be legally compelled to come back to the Capitol.
During an appearance on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle” Monday, Abbott called the move “un-Texan.”
He added, “They’re quitters.”
Abbott explained he is going to keep calling “special session after special session because over time it is going to continue until they step up to vote.”
Watch his comments below:
"Most Un-Texan Thing To Do": @GregAbbott_TX mocks Dems for "running away from a fight," says they fled state bc they can be arrested for refusing work
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 13, 2021
Abbott also notes they're complaining about a bill that expands voting access far more than states like Delaware currently have pic.twitter.com/xXcwVkGdLA
Touching on the law itself, Abbott argued it “doesn’t hinder anybody’s ability to vote.”
He later told Ingraham, “Once they step back into the state of Texas they will be arrested and brought back to the Texas Capitol and we will be conducting business.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was asked about the Democrat legislators’ decision to flee the state.
“It’s not very Texan. You stay and you fight — you don’t run away,” he said.
Just asked Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of Senate GOP leadership, about Dem legislators fleeing his state to scuttle Republican efforts on voting legislation: “It’s not very Texan. You stay and you fight — you don't run away.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 12, 2021
During a CNN appearance on Monday night, Democratic state Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez of El Paso shared her thoughts on the matter.
“As you know, the governor called another special session but there’s nothing special about it. It’s a voter suppression session. That’s what we’re calling it,” Ordaz Perez said.
She claimed states all across the country are “taking drastic measures in trying to suppress the vote.”
Democratic lawmakers from Texas have left the state in order to block Republican legislation, which they say would suppress voter rights.
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) July 13, 2021
State representatives from both sides join the show to explain their positions. pic.twitter.com/IYglM8YoDU
Texas House Democrat Trey Martinez Fischer was asked during CNN’s “New Day” if he cares whether he is going to be arrested or if he is sure that is going to happen.
"We are elected by the constituents to be their voice … We have to have the courage, we have to have conviction, and sometimes a little bit of defiance," Texas House Democrat Trey Martinez Fischer says on leaving the state to block Republicans from passing voting restrictions. pic.twitter.com/AJykfcjbdS
— New Day (@NewDay) July 13, 2021
“We always care. … We are elected by the constituents to be their voice. They have no voice and voting rights is fundamental so I think we have to have the courage, we have to have conviction, and sometimes a little bit of defiance,” Martinez Fischer said.
