AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas Democrat chose to remain in the state House chamber overnight and into Tuesday to avoid being followed by a law enforcement officer amidst Republican efforts to press forward with redrawing congressional maps favored by President Donald Trump.
The GOP-dominated Texas House has scheduled a vote on the new maps for Wednesday, while Democrats in California are countering by advancing their plans for new U.S. House boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
In Texas, Democrats executed a two-week walkout to block a vote on the maps, prompting the Republican House speaker to assert that lawmakers who returned on Monday would be monitored by state Department of Public Safety officers to ensure their presence at the Capitol. Democrats had to sign what they referred to as “permission slips” consenting to the surveillance before leaving the floor.
State Rep. Nicole Collier opted to stay overnight in the House chamber rather than sign the surveillance consent, which Democrats termed “permission slips,” in order to leave the floor.
A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to the Department of Public Safety.
Officers were stationed outside Democrats’ Capitol offices, and suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa mentioned that one officer followed her during her Monday night drive home to her apartment in Austin after spending much of the day on a couch in her office. She noted that the officer joined her for a staff lunch and even accompanied her to the restroom.
“Although we found humor in it, this situation is actually quite serious,” Plesa remarked in a phone interview. “This is an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer dollars and essentially performative theater.”
Collier, who represents a minority-majority district in the Fort Worth area, said she would not “sign away my dignity” and allow Republicans to “control my movements and monitor me.”
“I know these maps will harm my constituents,” she said in a statement. “I won’t just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination.”
2 states at the center of an expanding fight
The nation’s two most populous states are at the center of an expanding fight ahead over control of Congress of the midterm elections. The battle has rallied Democrats nationally following infighting and frustrations among the party’s voters since Republicans took total control of the federal government in January.
Dozens of Texas Democratic lawmakers left for Illinois and elsewhere on Aug. 3, denying their Republican colleagues the attendance necessary to vote on redrawn maps intended to send five more Texas Republicans to Washington. Republicans now hold 25 of Texas’ 38 U.S. House seats.
They declared victory Friday, pointing to California’s proposal intended to increase Democrats’ U.S. House advantage by five seats. Many absent Democrats returned Monday to cheering supporters.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows promised swift action on the Legislature’s agenda.
“We aren’t playing around,” Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen, whose district includes part of the Dallas area, said in a post on the X social media platform.
Democrats promise to keep fighting
Even as they declared victory, Democrats acknowledged Republicans can now approve redrawn districts. Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said Democrats would challenge the new designs in court.
Lawmakers were not scheduled to return until Wednesday.
Trump has pressured other Republican-run states to consider redistricting, as well, while Democratic governors in multiple statehouses have indicated they would follow California’s lead in response. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said his state will hold a Nov. 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.
The president wants to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of the midterms during his first presidency. After gaining House control in 2018, Democrats used their majority to stymie his agenda and twice impeach him.
Nationally, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total House seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.
Redistricting typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade after the census. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empower independent commissions, giving Newsom an additional hurdle.
California Democrats start redrawing process
Democratic legislators introduced new California maps Monday. It was the first official move toward the fall referendum asking voters to override the independent commission’s work after the 2020 census. The proposed boundaries would replace current ones through 2030. Democrats said they will return the mapmaking power to the commission after that.
State Republicans promised lawsuits.
Democrats hold 43 out of California’s 52 U.S. House seats. The proposal would try to expand that advantage by targeting battleground districts in Northern California, San Diego and Orange counties, and the Central Valley. Some Democratic incumbents also get more left-leaning voters in their districts.
“We don’t want this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we cannot run away from this fight,” said Democrat Marc Berman, a California Assembly member who previously chaired the elections committee.
Sacramento Republicans accused the majority of abusing power and said they will introduce legislation advocating independent redistricting commissions in all states.
Texas’ governor jumped to the president’s aid
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott launched the expanding battle when he heeded Trump’s wishes and added redistricting to an initial special session agenda that included multiple issues, including a package responding to devastating floods that killed more than 130 people last month.
Abbott has blamed Democrats’ absence for delaying action on those measures. Democrats have answered that Abbott is responsible because he effectively linked the hyper-partisan matter to nonpartisan flood relief.
Abbott, Burrows and other Republicans tried various threats and legal maneuvers to pressure Democrats’ return, including the governor arguing that Texas judges should remove absent lawmakers from office.
As long as they were out of state, lawmakers were beyond the reach of the civil arrest warrants that Burrows issued. Democrats who returned Monday did so without being detained by law enforcement.
The lawmakers who left face fines of up to $500 for each legislative day they missed. Burrows has insisted Democratic lawmakers also will pay for law enforcement who attempted to corral them during the walkout.
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Nguyen reported from Sacramento, California. Associated Press writer John Hanna contributed from Topeka, Kansas.
