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On Sunday afternoon, Texas state House Democrats fled the state — landing in New York, Illinois and Massachusetts — to rob Republicans of the quorum they need to pass a new GOP-friendly congressional map.
This tactic — essentially not allowing any legislative business to proceed until a sufficient number of Democrats return to the state and the legislature — has been used for more than 150 years in Texas.
In June 1870, 13 Texas senators walked out of the Capitol to block a bill giving the governor wartime powers, depriving the upper chamber of the two-thirds quorum required for voting. Though the fleeing members were arrested, and the bill eventually passed, the “Rump Senate incident” established quorum-breaking as a minority party tactic that has persisted in Texas politics ever since.
But, here’s the thing: It won’t work.
Texas Democrats have tried this before — in 2003 and 2021 most notably — and, in each case, they wound up eventually losing. (In 2021, Democrats stayed out of the state for 60(!) days — only to return and lose.)
Why doesn’t it work? Because Republicans control all levers of government in the state. Gov. Greg Abbott can just keep calling 30-day special sessions of the state legislature until Republicans get what they want. And, if Democrats try to stay out of the state until the 2026 filing deadline this fall, Republicans could just move the filing deadline back.
Plus, there’s the logistics problem. These Democrats who have fled live in Texas. Their families are in Texas. They represent districts in Texas. (Abbott is threatening to vacate their seats if they don’t come back. I doubt he will actually do this.) How long do they really want to stay away from all of that? Like, if you are a member of the Texas legislature, you aren’t going to up and move to Boston!
The best — and only — way to understand what Texas Democrats are doing is that they are trying to win the messaging war because they know they can’t win the political war.
They want to draw national attention to what Texas Republicans are doing in hopes people get outraged. Or that it convinces Democratic elected officials in places like California, New York and Illinois to open up their congressional maps as a way to counter what Republicans in Texas are doing.
Which might work! But make no mistake: Assuming Republicans in the state legislature have the votes for this new Texas map, it is going to become law.
