Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the arrests of Democratic state legislators who have fled the state as a partisan standoff escalates over plans to redraw congressional districts in Republicans’ favor.
The Republican-led Texas House voted Monday to issue civil arrest warrants for Democratic legislators who did not attend a session aimed at redrawing the state’s congressional district map. The House voted 85-6 to authorize the sergeant-at-arms and state law enforcement to track down and arrest absent Democrats.
However, the vote was mostly symbolic because most of the Democrats had fled the state and could not be pursued easily beyond Texas state lines.
After the vote, Mr. Abbott, a Republican, said he ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to “locate, arrest and return to the House chamber any member who abandoned their duty to Texans.”
Mr. Abbott said the order would remain in place until all missing Democrats are brought to the Texas Capitol in Austin.
The governor also threatened to exercise a state law to remove the missing Democrats from the Texas House if they did not return by 3 p.m. Monday. He further threatened to charge them with felonies.
Mr. Abbott said he has legal authority to remove the lawmakers from their elected positions because their purposeful absence, intended to interrupt the Legislature, amounted to abandonment of their House seats.
The Texas House Democratic Caucus, responding to Mr. Abbott’s threat of removal, said in a statement: “Come and take it.”
Democratic lawmakers left Texas on Sunday to thwart the Republican-led Legislature’s redistricting vote. They said the proposed map would eliminate seats representing majority Hispanic and Black districts. Democrats said they would leave the Texas House without a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers who must be present to conduct legislative business.
Republicans framed their absence as politically motivated.
“They’ve shirked their responsibilities under the direction and pressure of out-of-state politicians and activists who don’t know the first thing about what is right for Texas,” said Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Republican.
Texas Democrats said they planned to hunker down in Illinois, New York and other Democratic-led states for the next two weeks. They hope to stop the Legislature from redrawing congressional district lines to make it easier for Republican candidates to win five additional seats in Congress.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said he would shield the fleeing Democrats in his state.
“We are going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them,” Mr. Pritzker said. “We know that they are doing the right thing. We know they are following the law. It’s [Texas Attorney General] Ken Paxton who doesn’t follow the law. It’s the leaders of Texas who are attempting not to follow the law. They are the ones that need to be held accountable.”
Other Texas Democrats were hiding in New York. A few appeared for a press conference with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday morning.
She said they were leaving Albany and hiding elsewhere in the state. Ms. Hochul encouraged the runaway lawmakers “not to disclose where they are headed next, for obvious reasons.”
The redistricting efforts are part of the Republicans’ plan to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.
Both parties have used redistricting to expand the number of seats they control in Congress.
The Republican Party controls the U.S. House by three seats, and Texas’ redistricting plan would create five new Republican-leaning districts.
Texas Democrats are determined to block Republicans from making it easier to retain their majority in 2026.
Rep. Sheryl Cole, who represents the 46th Texas House District, posted Sunday on social media an image of herself boarding a plane to Chicago. She told followers she was leaving Texas “to stop this rigged redistricting process.”
The 50-plus Democrats who fled Texas over the weekend indicated they would stay away for two weeks until after the special legislative session ends. Democrats signaled they were unlikely to return by Mr. Abbott’s deadline.
The governor said Democrats who left the state are “soliciting funds” to evade fines the Texas House may impose on them. He said this could result in bribery charges because the funds were used to help them skip legislative votes.
Mr. Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate, said the lawmakers should “be swiftly arrested, punished and face the full force of the law for turning their backs on the people of Texas.”
