Texas Senate Democrats staged a walkout Tuesday to protest a proposed congressional redistricting map as it moved forward to the Texas House.
Nine of the chamber’s 11 Democrats left as Republican Sen. Phil King of Weatherford presented Senate Bill 4, which mirrored the House’s redistricting plan. Only Democratic Sens. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Chuy Hinojosa of McAllen remained.
“There’s only one party here that has actually abdicated its responsibility, and that’s the Republican party,” said Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, during a press conference held by the protesting Democrats outside the Senate.
Despite the walkout, the Republican-led Senate approved the map in a 19-2 vote. However, the measure faces obstacles as House Democrats remain absent, denying their chamber a quorum since Aug. 4.
Gov. Greg Abbott has warned he will call a second special session starting Friday unless enough House Democrats return to allow legislative business to resume.
“I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed,” Abbott stated.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Aarón, an Austin native and University of Texas graduate, previously covered local government for The Kansas City Star and high school sports for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Spanish is his first language.
New chatAI-generated, for reference only
