Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stall a Republican redistricting plan have signaled their readiness to return in the coming days. The Texas state legislature wrapped up its first special session on Friday, one of the conditions the Democrats gave for ending their quorum break. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quickly called a second special session, with Democrats’ anticipated return set to clear the way for the Texas House to move forward with an aggressive gerrymander that could net five more House seats for the GOP in the midterms.
The Democrats are touting the national attention they’ve brought to the redistricting fight and looking for hope from California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vowed to move forward with his own new map. The developments allow Democrats to frame the outcome as a victory, even if Republicans will also tout their return as a win.
The new GOP-friendly maps are almost certain to pass once the Democrats return to the state. Even as they remained out of state, a set of new congressional lines passed in the state Senate, while an identical set of lines were also approved by a state House committee. House Republicans couldn’t bring the new map to a floor vote in the lower chamber until the Democrats returned.
Republicans are touting their return as a win, since it means they will be able to move forward with passing new congressional lines. Democrats are celebrating the outcome as a political victory too. The next front in the Texas redistricting battle is likely to play out in the courts.
