Texas Governor Greg Abbott is not backing down from a fight against Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state over the weekend amid a political battle over redistricting.
On Monday afternoon, the Texas House voted 85-6 to arrest more than 50 Democrats after Abbott threatened to remove politicians who did not return by the end of the day. Lawmakers may be committing a felony by fundraising to pay the fines incurred for vacating their posts, Abbott said Monday.
“Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,” Abbott said.
“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” he added.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton voiced a similar opinion and called for Democrats to be tracked down and arrested in order to be brought back to the state.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately. We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law,” Paxton said.
Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state to fight an upcoming Republican attempt to redraw the state’s congressional districts to create more GOP seats. Most of them went to deep blue Illinois, one of the nation’s most gerrymandered states, to prevent Abbott from holding a special session to potentially draw an extra five GOP seats.
Arrest warrants only apply within state lines and Democrats will not face charges from the arrests.
President Trump has been aggressively pushing state-level Republicans to draw more partisan maps to give the GOP a better shot at retaining its House majority during the midterm cycle. Democrats are expected to perform well in the 2026 cycle because of backlash to Trump and anger from the Democratic base.
Democrats have accused Abbott of turning disaster relief into a political weapon for pursuing an undemocratic agenda. Texans are still mourning the loss of 130 people in devastating flooding in July, with most of the deaths occurring in south central Kerr County. National Democratic leaders are fully supportive of their Texas colleagues for taking what they consider a bold stand against Trump’s agenda.
Some out-of-state Democratic elected officials have threatened to respond accordingly to Abbott’s redistricting plans. California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has floated the possibility of redrawing California’s map to wipe out the Golden State’s Republican seats in retaliation if Texas Republicans follow through with their plans.