XPost: alt.total-loser, talk.politics.guns, tx.politics
XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/08/texas-democrats-legislature- redistricting-congressional-maps/

ST. CHARLES, Illinois � If Gov. Greg Abbott is determined to pass a gerrymandered congressional map, Texas Democrats know he has the votes and
the power to eventually get his way.

But for the dozens of Democrats who left the state this week in protest of
the map, it�s not just about winning � it�s about fighting.

Away from their families and regular jobs, Texas Democrats, most of whom
are hunkered down in a suburb about an hour west of Chicago, are facing $500-per-day fines, civil arrest warrants and threats from Republican
state leaders to remove them from office.

Now five days into the walkout, they plan to stay away until at least the
end of the special session on Aug. 19. When they return, they face the possibility of being stripped of their leadership positions and even
further marginalized in a chamber where they are already outnumbered. And
no matter how long they stay away, Abbott can just call another special
session to pass the map.

But it will all be worth it, they say, if they can lay the groundwork for
a national fight over redistricting and ensure enough voters across the
country understand what they frame as an attempt by President Donald Trump
to stack the deck in the midterm election next year.

�It takes an act of defiance like this to wake up the country and let them
know that our democracy is being stolen right in front of our eyes,� said
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio in an interview. �If we�re going
to be the spark that lights that fire, then we�re doing our jobs.�

When House Democrats last walked out in 2021 to stop new state voter restrictions, lawmakers were on the lam for over a month before the caucus fractured and enough members returned to restore quorum. Republicans
quickly pushed the measure through, but Democrats say they were successful
in drawing national and congressional attention to the topic and removing
some of the worst parts of the bill.

This time around, they�re seeking to block a congressional map redrawn in
the middle of the decade to create five new GOP seats next year, putting
them at the front lines of an issue with national stakes: control of the
U.S. House for the last two years of Trump�s term.

Those implications have elevated the Texas Democrats decamped in Illinois
and elsewhere, stiffening their resolve and garnering them nationwide
attention and support that they hope can help sustain their movement in a
way that was missing four years ago.

�It�s not, Houston, we have a problem,� Martinez Fischer said. �It�s,
America, we have a problem, and we need to rise up.�

The walkout, meant to deny Republicans the quorum needed to conduct
legislative business and bring the House to a standstill, has also set off
a possible national redistricting war. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has promised to draw more blue seats in his state if Texas
approves its plan, and national Democratic leaders are looking to reshape
maps in Illinois, New York and Maryland.

The effort reflects a push within the Democratic Party, particularly after
last year�s disastrous election results, to re-establish itself to voters
as a party of fighters willing to meet Republicans on their level.

�We are going to match Donald Trump�s energy when it comes to
redistricting,� U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth said Monday.
�Democrats we have shown up to a gunfight with nothing but good intentions
and dull knives, and that era is over. We are not going to unilaterally
disarm, and that is what�s different this time around.�

The message was reiterated repeatedly this week, with top Democrats from Illinois, New York, California and Massachusetts all joining the Texas delegation in pledging to stand up to the Trump administration, which is
also pressing other red states to redraw their congressional maps in favor
of the GOP ahead of next year�s midterm election.

�The Trump-Abbott gerrymander is a test case for the rest of the country,� Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Tuesday alongside
Texas Democrats. �What Republicans are trying to do in Texas is a model
for other red states to lie, cheat and steal their way to victory.�

Democrats began floating the possibility of a walkout as soon as Abbott
put redistricting on the special session agenda in July at the behest of
Trump.

But in discussions over Zoom and in person before the session began, they decided that the stakes of the issue hadn�t yet been communicated to the
public in a way that would explain a nuclear act. Some also held out for a committee process that might allow them to temper any draft map, or for a
GOP proposal less aggressive than Trump had demanded.

Then, the Republican-led redistricting committee unveiled a map last week
that would dismantle several Democratic districts to squeeze out five new
red seats. While Republican lawmakers said the map was drawn purely to
maximize partisan advantage � which is legal, according to the U.S.
Supreme Court � Democrats saw a plan that would achieve that edge by suppressing the vote of people of color in violation of the Voting Rights
Act.

�The power grab by Trump and Abbott doesn�t just have the goal of getting
five more seats in Congress,� Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. said Tuesday, the eve
of the Voting Rights Act�s 60th anniversary. �It has another goal, a goal
more sinister than that, and that is to make people believe that their
vote doesn�t really matter. That�s why it�s all of our fight.�

With Republicans moving to approve the map at a quick clip, the
determination to deny quorum solidified among Democrats in the 48 hours
before they got on a chartered plane headed for Chicago. Others made their
way to Albany to meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and to Boston for a state legislative conference.

Democrats say they�re buying valuable time by walking out, drawing
attention to the issue among voters and getting other blue states involved
� even while recognizing that Texas� map is likely to get passed and will
need to be fought in court.

�The spotlight has been turned on,� Rep. James Talarico of Austin said in
an interview. �I�m hoping this courage that my colleagues and I have shown
will be contagious, and it�ll inspire other legislators in blue states to respond with their own redistricting attempts.�


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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