Aug. 8 (UPI) — Texas Democrat elected officials who fled the state to prevent redistricting face Gov. Greg Abbot’s deadline Friday to return to the state.
The Texas House of Representatives will reconvene at 2 p.m. EDT Friday, and there would need to be at least 12 Democrats to have a quorum.
In a call with reporters, Texas Democratic Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, said he believed the majority of his colleagues are still committed to staying out of state until the end of session.
Texas Republicans seek to redraw the state’s maps to add five Republican House seats, an effort Democrats are blocking by fleeing the state to deny the Texas House the two-thirds quorum necessary.
Critics of the new maps said Republicans are seeking to increase Republican seats in the House through racial gerrymandering that reduces the voting power of people of color in the state.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he’ll go to court to try to remove the Democrats from office if they refuse to return. Gov. Greg Abbott, R, has sued the Democratic leader of the state House, Gene Wu, D-Houston, to have him removed.
Wu responded on CNN: “This is not my seat, and it’s sure as hell not Gov. Abbott’s seat. This seat belongs to the people of the state of Texas, and I’ve taken multiple oaths to defend them and protect them at any cost. … I have an obligation to stop [the redistricting] using every legal means necessary.”
Wu is required to respond Friday to the lawsuit before the Republican-dominated state Supreme Court.
The redistricting fight is going nationwide, with Republicans targeting Republican-heavy states with redistricting at the urging of President Donald Trump, who is concerned about the 2026 midterm elections.
Thursday, JD Vance visited Indianapolis to discuss redistricting in Indiana with Gov. Mike Braun. Republicans are also eyeing Ohio, where a state law requires the maps to be redrawn, and Missouri, for more seats. Democratic governors in California, Illinois, New York and other states are threatening to retaliate with their own redistricting.
Abbott said Friday if the Democrats don’t return to Texas soon, his party might draw a map that is even more GOP-friendly.
“If they don’t start showing up, I may start expanding,” Abbott said on the “Ruthless” podcast, a Fox News-owned conservative show. “We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we’re going to be adding on the Republican side.”