Texas House Democrats leave to prevent quorum on congressional redistricting
Texas House Democrats, including representatives from Tarrant County, are leaving the state to make a quorum impossible as a mid-decade redistricting push reaches a boiling point in the state Legislature.
There are 150 members of the Texas House, but 100 — a quorum — are needed to conduct business. The House Democratic Caucus announced Sunday afternoon that the majority of Democratic members would break quorum and leave the state ahead of a floor debate scheduled for Monday on a proposed congressional map.
The redrawn map positions Republicans to pick up five seats in Congress, and has been blasted by Democrats as a power grab by President Donald Trump that would disenfranchise voters.
House Democrats held a news conference around 9 p.m. Sunday, where lawmakers were joined by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in Carol Stream, a Chicago suburb. In addition to Chicago, there are also delegations of House Democrats meeting with leaders in Albany, New York, and Boston, Rep. Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat, said to reporters in Illinois.
“We also have several other members who are elsewhere, but they’re not in Austin, and they’re not going back to the Capitol,” Turner said. “Together we are united in this fight, and we are working to spread the word about what’s happening in Texas. Donald Trump wants more power. That’s what this is about.”
Among other changes, the redistricting map would push Congressional District 33, represented by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, fully into Dallas County. Currently, it spans both Dallas and Tarrant counties. The proposal advanced from a House committee Saturday after a hearing Friday on the proposed boundaries.
“Let the courage of these leaders be an example to the rest of the country,” said Pritzker, a Democrat, who met with a handful of House Democrats last month.
Illinois has 17 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, all but three of whom are Democrats.
More than 51 but less than 62 members of the Texas Democratic caucus are breaking quorum, a spokesperson said in a Sunday text. There are currently 62 Democrats serving in the chamber.
“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statememt. “Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump.
“He is using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal. Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal.”
House members could be arrested for breaking quorum and would be subjected to a $500 fine for each day they’re gone, according to House rules.
“The Texas House will be convening at 3:00 pm tomorrow,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said in a post on X Sunday. “If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table. . .”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he is in favor of arresting the lawmakers.
“I support the immediate arrest of these rogue lawmakers who’ve fled their duties,” Paxton said on X. “These radical Democrats are spitting in the face of every Texan they swore to represent. This is cowardice and dereliction of duty, and they should face the full force of the law without apology.”
Democratic lawmakers last broke quorum in 2021 to try and block an election bill.
Tarrant County Democrats among those breaking quorum
At least three of Tarrant County’s four Democratic House members are among those breaking quorum.
“Right now I’m on a plane to Illinois,” Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, said in a post on X. “Republicans want to rig our elections but HD95 will not go down without a fight. Republicans may have ignored the people during the field hearings, but I bet they can hear us loud and clear now. #wheelsup #txlege”
Rep. Ramón Romero, Jr., a Fort Worth Democrat, shared a video on X on Sunday where he looked prepared to board a plane. He confirmed in a text that he was traveling to Chicago.
“We didn’t start this fight,” Romero said in the video. “Donald Trump started it. He asked the Texas Legislature to get rid of your voice. So, for me, I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to go to work to silence you.”
In a statement, Turner of Grand Prairie said he was breaking quorum to deny “Republicans the ability to pass the outrageous and discriminatory Congressional map demanded by Donald Trump.” Turner, who is a member of the House’s select committee on congressional redistricting, said he does not take breaking quorum lightly.
“As an elected official, it is my solemn duty to protect the voices and rights of Texas voters,” he said. “I will not stand by and let Donald Trump circumvent democracy and erase the voting power of minority Texans, all to protect Republicans from facing the electoral consequences of the disastrous policies and damage to [t]his country that Trump and his enablers have inflicted.”
In an Aug. 3 news release, Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Euless Democrat, said he was traveling overseas for the foreseeable future due to a family medical emergency. In a text message, Bhojani said he’d asked another representative to mark him as having an excused absence, but didn’t know if excused absences could be accepted without a quorum.
“While my physical absence is unavoidable, my commitment to my constituents, my district and my work as a State Representative remains steadfast,” Bhojnai said in a statement. “I remain firmly opposed to Trump’s racially-motivated gerrymandering, and I stand in full solidarity with my colleagues who are fighting to protect democracy and ensure that every Texan’s voice is heard fairly. This mid-decade redistricting of congressional maps is a direct threat to fair representation and the democratic values we hold so dear in Texas and across this great nation.”
The House Democrats had the support of their Senate Democratic colleagues as they left the state.
“They’re using the power they have — and the only tool left to them — to stand up for the Texans they represent and protect the principle of fair elections for all,” the Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement. “The contrast is stark. Texans need solutions — on flooding, health care, schools, jobs, the costs of housing and groceries. Yet, the House’s first scheduled floor vote this special session is on a rigged redistricting map that disenfranchises millions of voters, especially minorities.”
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said the DNC is also behind the lawmakers.
“Republicans thought they could just rig the maps and change the rules without the American people taking notice,” Martin said. “They were dead wrong. The DNC is proud to support these legislators in standing up and showing real leadership. We will fight alongside them to stop this anti-democratic assault. And, after this fight is done, we’re coming full force for the Republicans’ House majority.”
Responses to House Democrats leaving Texas
Congressman Veasey said the House Democrats showed “extraordinary courage and heroism” by breaking quorum.
“They didn’t do it for politics — they did it for principle,” Veasey said in a statement. “They risked their safety and livelihoods to stop Donald Trump and Governor Abbott’s coordinate assault on the voting rights of Texans, especially communities of color who have always bore the brunt of voter suppression.”
Some Republicans voiced support for penalties for leaving the special session. Abbott called lawmakers to Austin starting on July 21, with items like THC laws, flood relief, abortion restrictions and eliminating the STAAR test among the issues on a special session agenda.
Special sessions last up to 30 days, and Abbott can call subsequent special sessions once the current one ends.
Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican, on X said a starting point could be revoking the vice chairmanships of any Democrats who broke quorum. Rep. John McQueeney, a Fort Worth Republican, shared a similar view.
“If House Democrats walk out on their duty, their leaders should be stripped of vice chairmanships,” McQueeney said on X. “Texans expect results. Strip the leadership of their titles, enforce the fines, and hold them accountable.”
The Republican Party of Texas called the quorum break a “transparent attempt to weaponize chaos and rewrite reality,” in a statement Sunday. Democrats “who try and run away like cowards” should be found, arrested and returned to the Texas Capitol in Austin, the statement reads.
“While Texas Republicans are working to ensure fair and lawful redistricting that reflects the will of Texans, Democrats are choosing obstruction over representation, denying voters their voice to score political headlines,” the statement reads.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responds to redistricting quorum break
Lawmakers who break quorum could lose their elected offices and may be committing crimes, Abbott said in a Sunday night statement.
Abbott said he’ll invoke a 2021 Texas attorney general opinion to “remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House” if they do not return by 3 p.m. Monday, when the House is scheduled to next meet.
Abbott said: “In that Opinion, the Attorney General considered ‘whether Texas law allows for a determination that a legislator has vacated office’ if they intentionally break quorum. The Attorney General concluded that ‘whether a specific legislator abandoned his or her office such that a vacancy occurred will be a fact question for a court.’ He further concluded that ‘through a quo warranto action, a district court may determine that a legislator has forfeited his or her office due to abandonment and can remove the legislator from office, thereby creating a vacancy.’ That empowers me to swiftly fill vacancies under Article III, Section 13 of the Texas Constitution.
“In addition to abandoning their offices, these legislators may also have committed felonies. Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 36.02. The same could be true for any other person who ‘offers, confers, or agrees to confer’ such funds to fleeing Democrat House members. I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons.”
The Dallas Morning News reports that Abbott is also launching a $750,000 ad buy targeting House Democrats who broke quorum.
This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM.
