(AUSTIN, Texas) — The battle over potential mid-decade redistricting in Texas — where the state’s congressional district lines could be redrawn well ahead of the upcoming census — continued Monday as dozens of Texas House Democrats remained out of state for a second week to block any potential votes on the map.
In Austin, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to meet and the redistricting bill is technically scheduled for a second reading (which would not be a vote to pass it out of the chamber). But this cannot happen without a quorum present; Republican legislators may try for another roll call vote to see if they still do not have a quorum.
The Texas Senate is also scheduled to meet and may vote on its own version of redistricting legislation, although if it votes the bill out of the Senate it cannot be voted on in the House until there is a quorum.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, separately, escalated legal efforts last week to get Democrats back to Texas or investigate who is funding their efforts.
Abbott has also said he will call special legislative session after special session to get the Republican-supported maps passed, even if Democrats run out the 30-day clock on the current session.
“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days, and as soon as this one is over, I’m going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one. If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol,” he told Fox News in an interview on Sunday.
“If they want to evade that arrest, they’re going to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years, and they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be,” he continued.
But Democrats are also going on the offensive. Eric Holder, a former attorney general and current chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, is set to speak about redistricting with U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday.
In California, legislators have said they expect to unveil proposed new congressional maps this week that would possibly go in front of voters for approval in a special election in November. But running a statewide election with relatively little notice will be a challenge, the Secretary of State’s office has said.
On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Trump saying it would drop its potential plans if other states would do the same.
“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” Newsom wrote. Separately, governors in Florida, Indiana, and Missouri have indicated interest in potential mid-decade redistricting.
Some of the Texas House Democrats who have broken quorum will be appearing at pressers in Illinois on Monday excoriating the continued efforts to redraw the maps.
During an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker took pride in housing Texas Democrats, calling President Donald Trump a ‘cheater.’
“[Republicans] know that they’re going to lose in 2026, the congress, and so they’re trying to steal seats, and so that is what these Texas Democrats are trying to stand up against and then don’t forget. The map that they put together, it violates the voting rights act and it violates the constitution,” Pritzker said.
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