Texas Democrats Leaving State to Block Redistricting Vote: A Strategy With Varied Outcomes

On Sunday, Texas Democrats took the drastic step of leaving the state to try and prevent Republicans from passing a new U.S. House map. This map could potentially strengthen the Republicans’ narrow majority in Congress by 2026.

By staging this walkout, the Democrats aim to stop Republicans from having the quorum needed to pass maps adding five new Republican-favored congressional districts. The suggested district lines carve up urban areas with a Democratic inclination, where most of the state’s 30 million residents live.

Although such maneuvers are not routine, both political parties have sometimes employed walkouts to disrupt legislative quorums, from Oregon to New Hampshire. These walkouts, which could range from a single day to several months, have sometimes resulted in consequences like fines, threats of arrest, or removal from the ballot.

“We are departing Texas to advocate for Texans,” said Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, in a Sunday statement. “Our decision to walk out is not an abandonment of our duties but a stand against a biased system that ignores the voices of our constituents.”

Here’s a closer look at how lawmakers around the country have used walkouts.

Texas

Four years ago, Texas Democrats walked off the job over a proposal for voting restrictions and fled to Washington D.C.

The Democrats initially managed to disrupt the measure, but during a subsequent special session, they could not obstruct the plan again as Republicans had law enforcement issue civil arrest warrants to compel the Democrats to return. This conflict extended for over a month. The legislation sought to prevent 24-hour polling places, eliminate drive-through voting, and expand access for partisan poll watchers.

This tactic was also employed by Texas Democrats in 2003 when House members left for Oklahoma and senators headed to New Mexico in a failed attempt to block a Republican-led congressional redistricting effort.

Oregon

Oregon legislators in both parties have boycotted daily sessions to halt work in one or both chambers since the 1970s. After several GOP walkouts, voters in 2022 approved an amendment to the state constitution barring lawmakers from seeking reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences in a single annual legislative session.

In 2023, Republicans staged a six-week boycott — the longest in the Oregon Legislature’s history — over measures protecting abortion rights and gender-affirming care for transgender people. Ten lawmakers were barred from seeking reelection the following year.

New Hampshire

In 2021, New Hampshire Democrats walked out when an anti-abortion bill came up for a vote, protesting what they saw as a partisan manipulation of the calendar. That prompted the Republican House speaker to lock the doors to maintain a quorum.

“I’m locking the doors right now so everybody in the chamber will stay in the chamber!” shouted House Speaker Sherman Packard, who later refused to let Democrats back in to vote on the bill.

Wisconsin

Democratic state senators from Wisconsin fled to neighboring Illinois in 2011, blocking a vote on GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to strip most public workers of their union rights. At the same time, pro-union protesters descended on the state Capitol.

The stalemate ended several weeks later after Republicans weakened their legislation.

Indiana

Indiana Democrats left the state for Illinois in 2011 to prevent a Republican bill prohibiting mandatory labor union fees. The absence of Democrats left the House short of the two-thirds needed for a quorum.

Democrats threatened to stay in Illinois until they received assurances from top leaders that the bills would not be called, while Republican leaders said they wouldn’t negotiate with legislators who didn’t show up to their jobs.

Republicans successfully passed the bill the following year.