Democrats say they’ll return to Austin if this current special session ends and if California moves forward with redistricting to balance out what Texas does..
AUSTIN, Texas — As state lawmakers prepare to end the current special session and immediately begin a new one on Friday, Texas House Democrats who have fled the state appear to be on track to come back to the Lone Star State.
In recent days, the cause has been considering its options, including the possibility of returning home.
More than 50 House Democrats left the state on Aug. 3 to block a bill that would redraw congressional maps, potentially flipping seats for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.
House Democratic Caucus Chair State Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) said the members will return to Texas under two conditions.
First, they want Republican leaders to end this current special session, and that’s expected to happen on Friday if there is no quorum in the House.
The second demand pertains to California. Democrats want leaders of that blue state to introduce legislation to redraw their congressional map to neutralize Republican gains in Texas.
“Trump thought he could easily get his way in Texas with compliant Republicans, but Democrats fought back ferociously and took the fight to Trump across America,” Wu said. “When the legislature adjourns sine die and California introduces its maps, we will return to the House floor and to the courthouse with a clear message: the fight to protect voting rights has only just begun.”
Texas Democrats have been discussing their next steps and what their exit strategy could entail, but the caucus has not yet reached a consensus. At least 100 House members must be present for a quorum to be established, allowing the House to conduct regular business. There are currently 150 members in the Texas House: 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats.
“It is a day-by-day decision about whether we stay,” State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) said. “There are hardships associated with being out of state, away from families, away from jobs that are different for each member. And so given those things, we’re constantly checking in with one another and making a determination every day.”
Since the day they left for Chicago, House Democrats have made clear they have no intention of returning to the state before the end of the first called special session.
Until it ends, as expected on Friday, State Rep. Vicky Goodwin said the House Democrats are not sure that they can trust their Republican counterparts.
House Democrats, who are currently out of state, know that at some point, they will have to return since they cannot stay away from their homes, lives, families and the Texas Capitol indefinitely. They are resigned to that fact, especially since Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will call special session after special session until his agenda gets passed.
“We all have said that we are determined to stay out through the first special session. Beyond that, we’re still having conversations about exactly what our timing is, but we know that it’s not realistic for us to stay out until October 2 to kill the map for the next election,” Goodwin said. “We want to be strategic, and we are coming back on our terms, not on the governor’s or speaker’s terms.”
The demands for what Democrats want to return to Austin did not include anything about flood relief or what Gov. Abbott puts on the agenda for the second special session.
“Texas House Democrats broke quorum and successfully mobilized the nation against Trump’s assault on minority voting rights,” Wu said. “Facing threats of arrest, lawfare, financial penalties, harassment, and bomb threats, we have stood firm in our fight against a proposed Jim Crow congressional district map. Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we’re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts.”
Gov. Abbott responded to the idea of Democrats issuing demands to return in a social media post, calling it “embarrassing.”
“Texas Democrats mailing in their ‘demands’… FROM CHICAGO,” Abbott wrote. “Come back and fight like Texans rather than running and hiding like cowards.”
On Tuesday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows stated that if lawmakers cannot establish a quorum on Friday, both chambers will adjourn sine die, thereby ending the first-called special session. Gov. Abbott has also announced that he will immediately call another special session.
The governor said the second special session will include 18 items from the current special session’s agenda, such as redistricting and flood response, but could also include additional items.
For the Democrats, the quorum break has been about shining a spotlight on what is happening for the rest of the nation and encouraging other blue states to retaliate. In their mind, in that way, this has been a win.
“Our goals are to make sure people understand what’s going on,” Goodwin said. “We started out thinking we wanted to make sure Texans were aware, but we’ve got the entire country aware of what’s going on right now.”
The House Democrats have been coming together with other Democratic lawmakers across the country to push back against those GOP-driven congressional maps, emphasizing this is not just a Texas fight.
“This is about waking up Americans to the threat that is coming out of the White House, to the threat that is coming out of the Republican controlled Congress,” Hinojosa said. “What we have seen is that Americans are ready for this fight.”
On Wednesday, House Democrats met with Indiana Democrats. Vice President JD Vance visited Indiana last week to encourage the state’s Republican leadership to consider redrawing their congressional districts. Several GOP state lawmakers there have come out against that proposal.
In response to events in Texas, Democrats in California, New York, and Illinois are considering redrawing their states’ congressional map to eliminate Republican seats and shore up Democratic seats. Other Republican states, such as Florida, Missouri, and Ohio, are also considering mid-decade redistricting.
“This is going to set off what I call a gerrymandering race,” Goodwin said. “Every state is trying to rig their districts to their political advantage, and the unfortunate thing is that we have real issues that we should be addressing.”
In California, new maps are drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission, so if Newsom wanted to change things, he would have to circumvent the commission or abolish it altogether.
On Thursday, Newsom held a rally in Los Angeles to unveil his state’s mid-decade redistricting plan. Newsom wants to hold a special election, where voters will be asked to temporarily give state lawmakers the power to redraw the congressional map.
“Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back,” Newsom said. “I know they say don’t mess with Texas. Don’t mess with the great Golden State.”
The legislature is set to return to the capitol in Sacramento next week. California plans to hold a special election in November, but for that to happen, the plan must be completed by next Friday.
“We are about to give power back to the people,” Newsom said. “On November 4 in California, you have the power to stand up to Trump. You have the power to declare that you support a system that is not rigged.”
In addition to breaking quorum and countering with other blue states, Democrats said there are alternative ways to fight the redistricting, such as through the court system and the legislative process.
“We will not be silenced, whether that fight is here whether that fight is encouraging the entire nation to step up and get into this game or whether that fight is on the Texas House floor,” State Rep. Ann Johnson (D-Houston) said. “Knowing that our fights then go back to the American people to Texans, and into the courts, we step up at every point.”
The push to redraw the congressional district map follows President Donald Trump’s urging of Texas Republicans to redraw the congressional districts to secure five more Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Democrats’ absence has been met with escalating threats from Gov. Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) – from ordering Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers to conduct civil arrests if the Democrats return to Texas, to reportedly getting the FBI involved in Illinois, where many of the Democrats went when they left.
Republicans accuse Democrats of blocking disaster and bills related to the deadly July floods across Texas.
“We left because it was clear that Texas Republicans Greg Abbott were focused on the Trump maps rather than helping people devastated by the floods,” Hinojosa said. “I would like to see us focus entirely on flood relief and on doing what we can to ensure this never happens again.”
In response, Texas Democrats say Republicans waited to take up flood relief. They accuse the GOP of using the issue as cover for what they call Republicans’ “real priority”: redistricting.
“The governor can move money and send monetary resources for that recovery, but he’s using this as a smokescreen and making it political and divisive, which is really unfortunate,” Goodwin said.
House Democrats said they will shift their battle to the courtroom and the House floor. The caucus said its lawyers advised them to return to the Capitol to establish a “strong public legislative record” that will likely be used in ensuing legal battles over the map, as those who will likely argue that it violates both the current Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.
“I’m sure that a lawsuit will be filed. We will debate it on the House floor,” Goodwin said. “We will bring up issues with these districts and the fact that, you know, we’re losing representation amongst our communities of color.”
The Trump administration wants Texas to redraw its maps to carve out more Republican seats, thereby increasing the GOP’s advantage in the U.S. House, which they currently control by a slim margin of 220-212. The goal is to make it easier for Republicans to maintain control of the House in the upcoming 2026 midterm election, when the party could face significant political headwinds.
Democrats say it is a power grab and will dilute the voting power of communities of color.
Republican State Representative Jeff Leach responded to the Democrats’ demands on social media, writing that the proposed new map shouldn’t just give Republicans 5 seats, but 9 or 10. He also said the second special session should include redrawing the state House and Senate districts, in addition to the congressional districts.
So this standoff appears to be coming to an end. As long as Republicans end this first-called special session when the House and Senate gavel in at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Democrats could be back at the Capitol in Austin not long after that. Goodwin said they will not likely return on Friday, but it is likely the Democrats will return to the Capitol in the coming days. Burrows has said he expects members to be present for house floor activity throughout the weekend.
