Texas Dems Submit To Redistricting Vote After Two Weeks AWOL

The Texas Democrat representatives who fled the Lone Star State to stop a mid-decade redistricting are returning, according to an announcement by the caucus. This will allow the state to conclude its drawn-out attempt to reshape the 2026 congressional map.

“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 state Representative Gene Wu, who leads Democrats in the Texas House, according to CNN.

“We’re returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans’ plans than when we left,” Wu continued. “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.”

The Texas Democratic legislators chose to leave the state rather than voting in the special session that was called for the redistricting vote, which expired Friday. After it expired, Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) promptly called a second special session to finish the redistricting effort.

In a statement on X announcing the second special session, Abbott said, “There is critical work that is left undone. Texas will not back down from this fight. That’s why I am calling them back today to finish the job.”

The Texas House of Representatives convened at 12 p.m. CT Monday, which enabled the legislature to continue with the special session. The new congressional map could made official by as soon as the end of the week.

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The Texas lawmakers who fled the state have been hiding out in notoriously-gerrymandered Illinois since August 4 while facing threats of fines and arrest for neglecting their duties from the Texas governor.

Abbott threatened to arrest the lawmakers at the start of the quorum break. “Once they step back into the state, they will be arrested and brought back to the Capitol and we will be conducting business,” Abbott told Fox News host Laura Ingraham at the time.

Soon after that, Abbott revealed plans to remove the representatives from office. Abbott said that the actions of the Democrats amounted to “an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office” and that Texas law empowered him to fill the vacancies.

On top of these threats by the state’s Republican governor, the AWOL Democrats were being slapped with a $500-per-day fine while they missed the special session, which also aimed at lowering property taxes, addressing state education benchmarks, and resolving issues that arose after the July 4 floods that rocked the state.

It is unclear what steps Governor Abbott will take against the representatives who fled the state as they return for the second special session.

The redistricting battle in Texas has since spilled over into blue states like New York and California, with Democratic state governors threatening to gerrymander their congressional districts to combat Texas’ move.

California Governor Gavin Newsom notably responded to the controversy of Texas lawmakers fleeing the state by saying, “[The Republicans] triggered this response and we’re not going to roll over and we’re going to fight fire with fire, but we’re going to do so not just punching with the weight of the fourth largest economy, the most populous state in our union.”

“We also will punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we’re doing, and I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation,” Newsom continued. “Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price.”