**AUSTIN, TEXAS — **Texas House Democrats returned to Austin this morning to launch the next phase in their fight against the racist gerrymander that provoked a weeks-long standoff with Governor Abbott and President Trump. Texas House Democrats’ 2025 quorum break sparked a national movement, forcing Abbott to end his first special session and driving California, New York, and other states to prepare countermeasures that would neutralize Trump’s attempts to rig congressional maps. With their two conditions for return met, House Democrats are ready to build the essential legal record needed to demonstrate that the discriminatory Texas map violates federal law and should be overturned.
“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” said Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. “We’re returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans’ plans than when we left. Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire legislators across the country how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses.”
House Democrats’ team of members to build the legal case against the discriminatory map will be led by Caucus Chair Gene Wu, MALC Chair Ramón Romero, Texas Legislative Black Caucus Chair Barbara Gervin Hawkins, Dean of the House Senfronia Thompson, and more than a dozen other members, who will systematically expose how the map violate the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. This legal groundwork is essential to winning in court before filing deadlines make timely challenges impossible.
In the wake of House Democrats’ quorum break, California, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, and more are moving forward with their own plans to block manipulated gains Trump may seek. After a meeting with Texas House Democrats, Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced legislation expected to pass this week that will move a mid-decade redistricting effort in California which would mitigate any gains Trump makes in Texas.
And it isn’t just Democrats who are showing resistance to Trump and his risky schemes. Governor Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire flatly rejected redistricting in her state, Trump continues to have a hard time convincing legislators in Indiana and Missouri to take on this now deeply unpopular fight, and two Republican Congressmen have introduced federal legislation to ban mid-decade redistricting.
“Latino Texans didn’t send us to Austin to watch while Republicans punish our voters through racial gerrymandering that erases Latino voices we’ve already fought hard to secure at the table,” said Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Rep. Ramón Romero Jr. “Governor Abbott is pushing this map to attack Latino voters simply because we won’t fall in line with Trump’s extreme agenda. Latinos make up half of Texas’s growth, yet instead of creating new opportunities, this map steals them away. When we return, we will be ready to fight this map with every weapon available — from the streets to the statehouse to the courthouse.”
“This map erases decades of hard-fought Black representation in Texas, disenfranchising voters in historic seats once held by icons like Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, and Al Green,” said Texas Legislative Black Caucus Chair Rep. Barbara Gervin Hawkins. “Our communities are counting on us to fight in every arena available. We’ve won the battle for America’s attention, and now we must win the legal war to protect every Texan’s right to equal representation.”