As expected, Texas Democratic legislators have fled the state to deny a quorum for Gov. Greg Abbott’s redistricting push. The members flew to Illinois on Sunday, which qualifies as peak irony given that the blue state is arguably the most gerrymandered in the country.
SEE: Trump and Abbott End Run Around Democrat 2026 Hopes, and a Total Freak-Out Ensues
This plan was reportedly hatched with Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), and the 30 odd Democrats will spend at least a week there. Given what we saw when they did this in 2021, denying a quorum for an election reform vote, there is no doubt a lot of grandstanding, dramatics, and cringe singing on the way.
In an extraordinary move to counter Republican redistricting in Texas, dozens of Democrats in the state House of Representatives are heading here Sunday to deny a necessary quorum for the GOP to move forward with those efforts.
The roughly 30 Democrats are expected to stay for the week in a plan brokered with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who had met with the Texas caucus late last month and has directed staff to provide logistical support for their stay. A news conference with the governor and Texas Democrats is expected later Sunday.
“We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans,” Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement. “We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. 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. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.”
All of this is just so stupid. The proposed congressional map would be nowhere near as bad a gerrymander as the one in Illinois, where these clowns ran off to. So it’s very rich to see Pritzker playing a role in this. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has also tried to put himself at the forefront of this fight, but again, this map would still give Democrats a higher number of seats compared to the state’s voter splits than California’s ridiculous map, which gives Republicans only nine seats. What’s happening is hypocrisy on steroids, with Democrats demanding the GOP live by a double standard whereby blue states can rig their maps to the max while holding a veto over the states in red maps.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has already pledged to push the red button, which includes tracking down and arresting the members who fled. The state’s constitution allows that as a specific means to combat this kind of gamesmanship.
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. Lawmakers must answer the special session call and pass the… https://t.co/sxLvZCIOB1
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 15, 2025
The first shoe to drop will be fines, which total $500 per day absent from the special session. That likely won’t do much to compel a return, given it’s not that much, and you can bet left-wing donors will find a way to slip money under the table to pay those debts. It’s the arrests that represent the bigger threat, and while in 2021, Republicans didn’t seem keen to push that red button (and Democrats folded and came back anyway), now seems as good a time as any.
As long as these Democrats don’t return to Texas, though, arrests are a long shot. Here’s the thing, though. In Texas, there is no limit to the number of special sessions the governor can call. That means Abbott could force these Democrats to live in Illinois or another blue state haven indefinitely, and that’s exactly what he should do. Call special session after special session until they finally have enough and come back to Texas, and when they do, arrest them and take them straight to the state house to provide a quorum. Playing hardball is the only answer here.
I’ve also seen it suggested that these Democrats could have their seats vacated for abandoning them. How that would work is still up for debate, but it seems like a reasonable path to pursue if they are not going to show up to do their jobs as the law requires.
Either way, the real fun is about to begin. It’s not 2021 anymore, and I suspect Republicans are going to be willing to go much further to ensure compliance this time around. So let the Democrats take their selfies and give their press conferences in Illinois, but this new congressional map is getting passed before the midterms. The only question is whether it’ll happen the easy way or the hard way.
Editor’s Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump’s agenda to make America great again.
Help us hold these corrupt judges accountable for their unconstitutional rulings. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
