Representative Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, walks out of the House Chamber after the session at the Capitol in Austin on August 8.
Photo: Jay Janner/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images
It was nearly two weeks ago when more than 50 Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives left the state in order to deny the full chamber a quorum and prevent the passage of a Republican gerrymandered congressional map backed by President Donald Trump. Now as Governor Greg Abbott continues to ramp up the pressure on the absent members, Texas Democrats are reportedly mulling a return home.
Sources told ABC News and their local Houston affiliate ABC13 that Democrats are expected to go back to Texas believing that they have “accomplished their mission” by helping to stymie the special session and raise nationwide awareness of the state’s redistricting fight. According to ABC, the Democrats could return as soon as this weekend, though those plans are subject to change.
However, Texas Democrats appeared to push back on that reporting through the caucus’s official account on X, stating that no official plans have been made and placing the onus for ending this conflict on state Republicans.
“Members are still assessing their strategies going forward and are in meetings to make decisions about future plans currently,” the post reads. “If and when Texas House Democrats breaking quorum decide to go home is squarely dependent on the actions the Governor, Speaker, and Texas Republicans in charge make with regard to prioritizing flood victims over redistricting that hurts Texans.”
A potential return to Texas would be a dramatic shift in tone for the group of Democratic lawmakers who have received praise for their strong opposition to the Republican push to add five more seats to their column. But the deliberation comes as the Democrats are staring down a protracted fight with likely unchanging odds as well as an increasing financial burden. Members are being fined $500 for each day they’re absent from the chamber, a steep cost for the part-time elected officials who make a reported $600 a month, per NBC News.
The Texas House is set to end its current special session early on Friday after failing to reach a quorum for consecutive days. But Abbott has signaled that he will use his power as governor to keep calling special sessions as long as needed.
“The Special Session #2 agenda will have the exact same agenda, with the potential to add more items critical to Texans. There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them. I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed,” he said in a statement.
Republican leaders have sought to use every tactic at their disposal against the Democrats, including the House Speaker signing civil warrants for the members’ arrest and Abbott directing law enforcement to locate the absent lawmakers and investigate them for wrongdoing. Abbott has even threatened to further gerrymander the congressional map in Republicans’ favor and eliminate Democratic districts. Most recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a state judge to jail Beto O’Rourke, alleging that the former congressman’s political group Powered by People is bankrolling the Texas Democrats’ out-of-town expenses against a court order.
For now, the Democratic lawmakers are showing no signs of slowing down. Texas Democrats in Illinois are slated to meet with Indiana Democrats who are opposing a new redistricting push in their state on Wednesday.
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