CHICAGO — In an unprecedented strategy to block Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas, a significant number of Democrats from the state House of Representatives are journeying here on Sunday to prevent the necessary quorum that the GOP requires to advance their plans.
The group of about 30 Democrats plans to remain in Illinois for the week, a move arranged with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who previously met with the Texas delegation last month, ensuring logistical support for their visit. A press briefing featuring the governor and Texas Democrats is anticipated later on Sunday.
“We’re leaving Texas to stand up for Texans,” declared Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu in a statement. “We refuse to let disaster relief be manipulated for a Trump gerrymander scheme. We’re not shirking our duties; we’re stepping away from a flawed system that ignores the electorate we represent. From this point forward, this corrupt special session is concluded.”
Recently, Texas Republicans unveiled a new congressional map proposal designed to secure five additional seats for the GOP in the next year’s midterm elections. This move comes after President Donald Trump’s vocal encouragement for a favorable map in Texas as he strives to sustain a congressional majority during a historically challenging term for the White House incumbent’s party.
The proposed map would redraw district boundaries in a manner that jeopardizes current Democratic Congress members in regions surrounding Austin, Dallas, and Houston, as well as two vulnerable Democrats from south Texas districts, which Trump won last year.
A House committee sanctioned the partisan congressional maps following a vote strictly along party lines on Saturday morning. Post-vote, committee chairman, Republican state Rep. Cody Vasut, informed NBC News that the maps were intentionally designed to secure more Republican seats.
“This map was politically based, and that’s totally legal, totally allowed and totally fair,” Vasut said. “You got states like California and New York and Illinois that have these really large margins between the percentage of seats they have and the percentage of votes that they’re getting, and Texas is underperforming in that. And so it’s totally prudent, totally right, for Texas to be able to respond and improve the political performance of its map.”
Wu’s statement said Democrats’ move “is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity.”
“Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump,” Wu continued. “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.”
Politically, the move puts Pritzker at the center of a high-profile national fight. The governor, who is running for his third term in office, is also widely viewed as a 2028 presidential contender. He has implored Democrats to resist Trump’s agenda.
The origins of Pritzker’s involvement began when the governor gave a keynote address to Oklahoma Democrats in June. Pritzker met privately in a “robust” meeting with the party chair to talk about the Texas redistricting, according to a person close to the governor. When Pritzker later met with Texas Democrats, he assured them they could come to his state and find support, including finding hotels, meeting spaces and other logistical assistance.
The Texas Democrats, however, face the risk of a $500-a-day fine and even possible arrest for fleeing the state. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure in 2023, two years after state Democrats left the state for three weeks to block an elections bill from progressing.
“Democrats have got to stand up at this point and tell every individual in this nation, ‘This is not normal. This is not democracy,’” Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson told NBC News on Saturday.
“You’ve got these Texas Republicans that are just rolling over and giving Trump what he wants because he’s asked for it,” Johnson said. “It’s an affront to every citizen, not only in Texas but the nation.”
The Texas House is scheduled to convene at 3 p.m. CT Monday. The redistricting bill is so far the only item on the calendar.
Natasha Korecki reported from Chicago, and Ryan Chandler from Austin, Texas.
am Edelman contributed.
