Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that his office will move forward with efforts to remove Democratic lawmakers who fled to blue states in an attempt to derail a vote on a Republican-led redistricting plan aimed at flipping five Democrat-controlled districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The standoff began earlier this week when a group of Democratic state representatives left Texas—many heading to Illinois—to prevent the vote from taking place.
With the Texas House made up of 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats, a two-thirds quorum is required to proceed with legislative action. “This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” said Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement.
Under Texas law, House sergeants-at-arms and the state Department of Public Safety are authorized to locate and return absent lawmakers within state borders, according to State Rep. Nate Schatzline.
Texas Democrats have previously used walkouts to break quorum, notably in 2003 to block a mid-decade redistricting plan and again in 2021 to oppose an election bill imposing broad voting restrictions. Both efforts ultimately failed.
On Tuesday, Paxton announced plans to seek a court ruling that would declare the seats of any Democrats who fled the state vacant. If granted, the ruling would allow Republicans to call special elections to fill those seats. The move follows a directive from Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, who gave the absent lawmakers until Friday, August 8, to return and present themselves before the chamber.
In a press release, Paxton warned that any lawmaker who fails to return by the deadline—or is not apprehended and brought back—will face “aggressive” legal action.
“Democrats have abandoned their offices by fleeing Texas, and a failure to respond to a call of the House constitutes a dereliction of their duty as elected officials,” the attorney general said in a press release. “Starting Friday, any rogue lawmakers refusing to return to the House will be held accountable for vacating their office. The people of Texas elected lawmakers, not jet-setting runaways looking for headlines. If you don’t show up to work, you get fired.”