Why a walkout on GOP redistricting could be very risky for Texas Democrats

Facing pressure from national Democrats to fight new GOP redistricting, Texas Democrats have yet to outline a strategy with just days to go before the Legislature gets down to business.

But state House and Senate leaders said they are keeping all options on the table, including a walkout like the one they staged in 2021 that briefly ground legislative work to a halt.

"I am ready, willing, and able to get into good trouble by breaking quorum when justice is on the line," state Rep. Ron Reynolds of Houston, vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement on Thursday.

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"I see the writing on the wall. We don't have a lot of options," he added in a separate interview.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol on Monday for a far-reaching 30-day special session that includes redrawing the boundaries some or all of the state's 38 congressional districts.

Even though the present boundaries were approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature just four years ago, President Donald Trump wants a new map to improve the party's changes of holding onto power in next year's midterm elections. And Trump told reporters this week he wants a redesign that would add five more Republican districts in Texas to its already lopsided 25-12 majority.

Congressional Democrats at risk of losing their seats are urging their colleagues in Austin to go on offense.

"Texas Democrats need to keep everything on the table, from filibusters and quorum breaks to marching and deploying millions of dollars to run in these newly drawn districts," Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin said in an interview Thursday.

The chairman of the Texas Democratic Party had blunt words for his counterparts in Washington and elsewhere who might be urging Democrats in the Legislature to take politically risky action.

"The national party doesn't make decisions on behalf of Texas Democrats," Kendall Scudder, who in March became leader of the out-of-power party in Texas, said in an interview Wednesday. "Our state legislators and our state senators are the ones that are on the front lines here. When (Texas) Democrats decide what their course of action is going to be, we (the state party) are going to do everything that we can to support them."

Actually derailing the redistricting effort, which was one of nearly 20 items added to the special session agenda by Gov. Greg Abbott, would be a herculean lift fraught with risk for legislative Democrats. Delaying the process with a walkout would require strong participation by most of the party's caucus, and could carry steep financial costs.

Four years ago, most House Democrats left the state to protest legislation they feared would undermine voting rights. By leaving, work in the chamber came to a standstill because the state Constitution requires at least 100 of the 150 members to be present before any legislation can be considered on the floor.

Despite remaining absent with most staying in Washington for several weeks, House Democrats finally returned Austin and the voting-rights legislation was enacted into law.

One of the roadblocks to repeating what has become know as "quorum busting" is the series of rules House Republicans put into place in 2023 designed to compel attendance. Members who are "absent without leave for the purpose of impeding the action of the House" can face fines of up to $500 per day, which must be paid out of their own pocket and not a campaign account. Over the course of a 30-day special session, those fines could rack up to $15,000 per member.

The state lawmakers’ government salaries are only $7,200 annually.

In addition, members could be forced to repay the cost associated with tracking them down. And they could be formally censured and even expelled from office for breaking quorum.

Given that Republicans enjoy a 88-62 advantage in the House and a 19-11 majority in the Senate, which includes one vacancy, Republicans will likely exert their will in both chambers, said Cal Jillson, a 30-year political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. But, he added, while Democrats appear to be backed into a corner, they still have access to an arsenal to take the fight to a different battlefield.

"I think the outcome is preordained, that at least in the sense that Republicans are going to get what they want," Jillson said. "But even if you can't stop the Republican redistricting, you can draw attention to your complaints, your themes, your criticisms of the process that this is a Republican attempt to forestall democratic outcomes in 2026 which might produce a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives."

Senate Democratic chair Carol Alvarado said the strategizing is taking place outside of public view.

"We're having conversations with other interested parties and stakeholders, people who are typically involved in redistricting process," the Houston Democrat said. "So we're doing our due diligence, and we'll be there on Monday to figure out what the what the pace is going to be like, with what the agenda is going to look like."

In their messaging, Alvarado said Democrats will aggressively point out that addressing issues related to the deadly July 4 flood and the response by government at every level is a far higher priority for the special session than is the Republicans' desire to improve their electoral chances in 2026.

Texas Democrats will likely use redistricting as part of their appeal to both deep-pocket and grassroots donors, which would then provide them the resources to amplify their message to voters who don't necessarily live and breathe politics, Jillson said.

Scudder said that part of the process is already under way.

"Democrats aren't elected to levers of power," he said. "We're limited in what we're able to do to respond in situations like this. So all we can do is try to fundraise to finance these large projects as they come at us, and litigate them."