TEXAS HOUSE DEMOCRATS SET CONDITIONS FOR RETURN AS FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL GERRYMANDERING ENTERS NEW PHASE
Democrats will only return to Texas once first Special Session adjourns sine die and California introduces redistricting plan to counteract Trump/Abbott power grab
**CHICAGO — **Texas House Democrats announced today that they will only return to Texas once two critical conditions are met: the Legislature's adjournment sine die on Friday, as promised by Texas Speaker Dustin Burrows in a major capitulation from Republicans; and the introduction of California's redistricting maps that would neutralize the Trump-Abbott voter suppression effort. The decision to set conditions for return comes after Texas House Democrats' successful national campaign against Donald Trump's attack on voting rights built unstoppable momentum across the country.
“Texas House Democrats broke quorum and successfully mobilized the nation against Trump's assault on minority voting rights," said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu. “Facing threats of arrest, lawfare, financial penalties, harassment, and bomb threats, we have stood firm in our fight against a proposed Jim Crow congressional district map. Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we're prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts.”
Once these conditions are met, the Texas House Democrats' campaign will shift to the floor of the Texas House where they will challenge the Trump-Abbott attack on minority voting rights. Under the advice of legal counsel, Democrats must return to Texas to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle against a map that violates both the current Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.
House Democrats vowed to continue fighting for flood relief for devastated Texas communities while promising to take the fight for minority voting rights as far as possible — including to the Supreme Court.
"Trump thought he could easily get his way in Texas with compliant Republicans, but Democrats fought back ferociously and took the fight to Trump across America," Chair Wu added. "When the legislature adjourns sine die and California introduces its maps, we will return to the House floor and to the courthouse with a clear message: the fight to protect voting rights has only just begun."