Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned Sunday that the state’s redistricting fight with Democrats could continue for years, escalating tensions over a plan to give Republicans five additional seats in Congress. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Abbott said he would repeatedly call 30-day special sessions of the Texas legislature until the dispute was resolved. “As soon as this one is over, I’m going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one,” he said.
Abbott vowed that Democrats who return to Texas would be arrested for violating their oath of office. “If they want to evade that arrest, they’re going to stay outside Texas for literally years,” he said, adding they might as well vote in other states. The redistricting effort, backed by Donald Trump, aims to flip five U.S. House seats to Republicans as polls show the party struggling to keep its narrow three-seat majority.
More than 50 Texas Democrats have left the state for locations including Illinois and New York to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass the maps. Democratic governors joined Sunday political programs to push back. New York Governor Kathy Hochul called Abbott a “lap dog” for Trump and told him, “Knock it off. Let’s get back to governing.” She said New York could amend its constitution if necessary to counter what she called a “blatant power grab.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, hosting many of the Texas Democrats, accused Trump of being a cheater and dismissed claims that the FBI could intervene. “Texas law does not apply in the state of Illinois, and there’s no federal law that would allow the FBI to arrest anybody that’s here visiting our state,” Pritzker said.
Legal battles are unfolding in Texas courts. Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing 13 Democratic lawmakers, arguing they vacated their offices, and is asking the state’s supreme court to remove them. A Fort Worth court blocked Beto O’Rourke’s political action committee from funding the absent lawmakers. O’Rourke has counter-sued, accusing Paxton of intimidation and warning that the Republican plan could cement authoritarian control under Trump.
The plan has drawn criticism even from longtime opponents of partisan gerrymandering. Senator Bernie Sanders told CNN that while he found it “pathetic,” Democrats must “fight back” against Republican actions. “What we have now is terrible, and Republicans are making it worse. Well, what do you do if Republicans are doing it? You have to respond,” Sanders said.
