Democratic members of the House of Representatives have left the state on Sunday in a last attempt to prevent Republicans from adopting an aggressively redesigned electoral map. Their absence should prevent the Chamber from reaching the quorum required to vote this week.
The departure of the Democrats represents a sharp climbing in the intense party conflict around the district of Mandate in Texas, requested by President Donald Trump. Republicans in the state legislature advanced rapidly, with the map – designed to turn five congressional democratic districts in favor of the Republicans – being approved in two committees over the weekend.
Hours after the departure of the Democrats, Governor Greg Abbott responded with a new climb, stating that their departure was equivalent to a “abandonment or resignation of a state elective position.”
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If they do not attend the debate scheduled for Monday (4) on the maps, Abbott said he will invoke a legal opinion of Texas Attorney General and will take action to “remove the absent democrats from the Texas Chamber.” Such action will certainly be contested in justice.
Texas’ departure from Democrats can delay actions in the legislature for several weeks or more, but similar prior attempts to block republican legislation and district redesign in Texas have failed.
Most of the Democratic legislators who participated in the action went to Chicago shortly after 5 pm in the US Central Hours. Illinois governor JB Pritzker has considered if his state would respond to the Texas movement redesigning his own electoral map in favor of the Democrats.
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Texas democrats who flew to Chicago were next to Pritzker during a press conference on Sunday night at a local office of the Democratic Party in the city.
“This is not just manipulating the system in Texas,” Pritzker said about the efforts of the Republicans. “It is manipulating the system against the rights of all Americans for the coming years.”
A lower group of Texas democrats was going to New York, where they were expected to meet with Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday. She has also sought ways to respond to the republican movement.
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“We are leaving Texas to fight for the Texans,” said Gene Wu, state deputy of Houston and president of Caucus Democrat in the Texas Chamber, in a statement on Sunday. “We are abandoning a manipulated system that refuses to hear the people we represent.”
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