Texas Democrats are considering fleeing work in an attempt to hinder a GOP-led push to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Some Democratic Texas lawmakers are weighing whether to break quorum during the special legislative session in an attempt to halt mid-decade redistricting, according to multiple reports. The controversial tactic — which Texas Democrats previously employed in a failed attempt to stop GOP-led redistricting in 2003 — involves a group of lawmakers deciding to not show up to the state Capitol at once in order to deprive the legislature of the requisite number of elected officials to operate.
One hundred Texas representatives and 21 Texas senators constitute a quorum in their respective chambers. Republicans control 88 seats in the state House and 19 seats in the state Senate.
Democratic Texas State Rep. Ron Reynolds said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle published Tuesday that he is prepared to break quorum at any point if necessary to halt redistricting in the state. Reynolds also told the outlet that he “would not be surprised” if President Donald Trump sent the National Guard to “come get” any Democrats who potentially break quorum.
“We know we don’t have the numbers,” Reynolds told the Houston Chronicle. “They can run over us. They are here to do Trump’s bidding.”
“I would not be surprised to see President Trump send out the National Guard to come get us,” Reynolds told the outlet. “That’s the kind of vitriol we are facing now.”
“Hell no, not on our watch,” the Texas Democrat added.
The news comes after Trump told reporters on July 15 that he wants a new Texas congressional map that would allow Republicans to flip five more seats in the Lone Star State.
“I think we’ll get five [congressional seats],” Trump said at the time. “And there could be some other states we’re going to get another three, or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.”
Additionally, Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Casar told the Houston Chronicle that he believes that state-level Texas Democrats should be prepared to use every method necessary to buy themselves time amid Republicans’ push to redraw the state’s congressional maps, such as quorum breaks, filibusters and marathon hearings.
“We’ll use time wisely and buy the right amount of time,” the federal lawmaker said, according to the outlet.
In 2021, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott approved Texas’ new political maps for the state’s congressional districts after the 2020 Census, with the new boundaries going into effect for the 2022 midterm elections. Democrats currently hold of 12 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts.
Texas House Democrats last broke quorum in 2021, as part of a high-profile unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of a GOP-backed voting bill. Despite their efforts, the bill eventually passed and Abbott signed it into law.
Texas Democrats have previously attempted to halt the legislative process over mid-decade redistricting via breaking quorum. In 2003, a group of Democratic state representatives, dubbed “The Killer D’s,” fled to an inn in Oklahoma to evade Texas state troopers who were ordered to bring them back to the Capitol, in handcuffs if needed, the moment they stepped foot back in Texas, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Texas Democrats’ quorum-breaking was in an effort to hinder redistricting in the state, but the congressional district lines were eventually redrawn anyway, resulting in a five-seat net gain for Republicans in the 2004 election cycle.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a statement posted to X on July 15 that if Democrats “ignore their duty to their constituents” by breaking quorum, they should be “found and arrested no matter where they go.”
“The people of Texas elected them to do a job, not run away and hide like cowards,” Paxton added. “Lawmakers must answer the special session call and pass the important priorities that the Governor has put forward. My office stands ready to assist local, state, and federal authorities in hunting down and compelling the attendance of anyone who abandons their office and their constituents for cheap political theater.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries claimed on July 15 that Abbott was attempting to utilize the special session to “conspire to rig the Texas congressional map.”
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