【By Observer Net, Wang Yi】According to Xinhua News Agency, with more than a year until the U.S. midterm elections, the Republican and Democratic parties have already been fighting over "redistricting" - an opportunity - as the Republicans hope to consolidate their majority advantage in the House of Representatives by using the redrawing of congressional districts in Texas and Ohio; while the Democrats are not only trying to stop the Republicans, but also planning to imitate the opponents in states such as California and New York.
To prevent the Republicans from pushing for the redrawing of the Texas congressional district map under the support of former President Trump, Democratic state legislators in the Texas House of Representatives fled en masse on August 3, so that the legislature did not reach the required quorum to vote on redistricting on the 4th.
However, this dramatic move may put the Democrats at risk of fines and other penalties. The Texas House has a rule that if a legislator is absent due to hindering the operation of the House, they will be fined $500 per day. The Republican attorney general of the state has threatened to arrest lawmakers who take such actions.
According to reports, Trump had repeatedly urged Texas Republicans to push for the redrawing of the state's districts to help the Republicans gain a majority in the House during the midterm elections. Under his request, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott convened a special session in late July to discuss redrawing congressional districts and other matters.
Texas has 38 seats in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives, with Republicans and Democrats holding 25 and 12 seats respectively, and one seat vacant since a Democratic legislator died in March this year. Analysts say that if the new redistricting plan proposed by the Republicans is passed, it could eliminate five Democratic seats in the House of Representatives.
The U.S. Constitution stipulates that each state's congressional and state legislative districts must be adjusted according to the results of the decennial census. This is a routine operation, and both parties have always unintentionally gained advantages when redrawing districts. However, the Democrats point out that the Republicans' adjustment at this time is purely for partisan interests, aiming to enhance the Republicans' control over Congress.
Therefore, the Democratic state legislators in the Texas House decided to "flee" to Chicago and Albany, New York, to prevent voting. Gene Wu, the chair of the Democratic core group in the Texas House, said, "This is not a hasty decision, but a decision made with absolute moral clarity."
Chairman of the Democratic Core Group in the Texas House of Representatives, Gene Wu
"Indifference is complicity, we will not become accomplices of Trump, trying to suppress hardworking communities, who have been fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal for decades," Wu said.
To reach the required quorum, at least 100 out of the 150 members of the Texas House must attend. Currently, the Democrats hold 62 seats. Josh Rush Nisenson, a spokesperson for the Democratic core group in the Texas House, stated that at least 51 Democratic members had left Texas.
This "Texas escape" was not the first time. In 2021, Democratic legislators had gone to Washington to oppose the Republican-led voting restrictions bill, resulting in a 38-day standoff.
"For weeks, we have warned that if the Republicans in Texas want to go all out - if they want to delay flood relief efforts to desperately protect Donald Trump from an inevitable midterm election collapse, then we will go all out against them," said Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, in a statement. "This is exactly what Texas Democrats did today: destroying the Republicans' hypocritical, almost ignoring the plight of flood victims in Kerr County."
The Texas Republicans believe that the current districts are unconstitutional and have unjust racial divisions, and need to be redrawn. Dustin Burrows, the speaker of the Texas House and a Republican, posted on social media that they would still hold the meeting on the 4th. "If the required quorum was not met at that time, as some of my Democratic colleagues recently said, all options will be on the table."
On the evening of the 3rd, Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a threat, saying, "The Democratic legislators in the Texas House ran away like cowards, they should be found, arrested, and brought back to the legislature immediately. We should use all means to capture those who think they can be above the law." Paxton did not specify what means he intended to take, but refusing to attend the legislative session in the United States is a civil offense.
The Texas Democratic legislators who "fled" are gradually arriving in Illinois. A source revealed that Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker has been in private communication with Texas Democrats over the past few weeks, planning to provide support if necessary.
Pritzker hosted several Texas Democrats last week and publicly opposed the redistricting plan. Pritzker, a potential contender for the 2028 presidential election, is one of Trump's most outspoken critics during his second term. Now, Pritzker has taken in the Democrats who fled from Texas, and he may be ready to openly confront Trump.
Democrats across the country have united, vowing to take similar measures in Democratic-controlled states such as California and New York if the Republicans proceed with the redistricting in Texas.
According to reports, led by Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader of the House of Representatives and a Democrat, Democrats are planning to redraw districts in several states where they have an advantage, including California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington.
Jeffries plans to meet with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, in August to discuss the issue. New York recently redrew its districts, but did not significantly alter the seven districts represented by Republican members of the House. Jeffries now implies that the Democrats can take bigger actions: "I just want to say that the map of New York's congressional districts did not achieve the fairness it should have."
A source revealed that Jeffries is also closely communicating with California Governor Gavin Newsom on this matter. Newsom intends to quickly advance the redrawing of California's congressional districts before the November 2024 midterm elections. However, analysts point out that the challenge facing the Democrats currently is that the power to draw districts in most states dominated by Democrats is controlled by a nonpartisan commission, and in states where Democrats have the power to redraw districts, their advantage "has already reached its peak."
Newsom posted a map of the districts on social media on August 1, showing that all 52 of the state's congressional districts were drawn in favor of the Democrats. Newsom said that if Texas adopts the new map, he would also develop a plan to shift all of California's districts to the Democrats.
Hochul will hold an event with the Texas Democratic legislators who fled to New York on the 4th. In a statement, she responded, "When Republicans try to grant more unchecked power to Trump, we will not stand by. Texas Democrats have stepped up to defend the future of democracy, and I am proud to stand with them against the fight to deprive citizens of their rights."
Martin also said that Democrats across the country will "stand shoulder to shoulder with Texas Democrats to stop this anti-democratic attack," and then continue to fully fight for the majority in the House of Representatives that the Republicans currently control.
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