Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to remove Democrats from the legislature after they bolted the state Sunday in an attempt to block a vote on new congressional maps that stand to benefit the GOP in the 2026 midterms.
More than 50 state Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon — most headed for Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts — so that the Texas House would not have a quorum to vote on the redistricting that could net Republicans five additional congressional seats.
In a statement issued Sunday night, Abbott said any lawmaker not in attendance for Monday afternoon's session of the Texas House will be removed from membership in the Texas House.
"Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber's business. That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office," Abbott wrote in the letter.
"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," the letter went on.
House Democrat Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu declined to say how long lawmakers were prepared to stay out of Texas. Lawmakers can't pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber and at least 57 left the state, The Washington Post reported.
Abbott also said the Democrats could be in violation of felony bribery charges if they receive funds "to evade the fines they will incur under House rules." The lawmakers face a $500 fine for every day they're away from Austin, Texas, during the session.
"I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons," Abbott wrote.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also called for the arrest and return of the lawmakers.
"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," he said in a post to X.
"Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that's exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did," Abbott said in his letter.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.