Democracy’s a reasonably easy idea: Voters vote for a politician, the politician with probably the most votes wins, and that politician then represents voters as an elected official. That’s the concept anyway, proper?
However what if — simply what if — as an alternative of voters selecting politicians, politicians as an alternative might select their very own voters? And mainly assure their very own outcomes?
That’s what’s at play in Texas. Dealing with such a scenario, Texas Democratic lawmakers fled the state Sunday to dam passage of a brand new congressional map designed to regroup Texas voters to all however assure the GOP 5 further seats within the US Home of Representatives subsequent yr. Republicans presently have a seven-seat benefit.
It’s a transfer that has set off a nationwide struggle over redistricting forward of 2026’s midterm elections.
Dealing with a probably troublesome cycle for Republicans, President Donald Trump demanded Texas remake its maps to spice up Republicans’ possibilities of holding — and increasing — their slim majority in Congress. Texas Democrats have condemned the brand new maps as a political energy seize; their flight from the state prevents the legislature from having sufficient votes to operate.
Gov. Gregg Abbott and Republican state lawmakers have since threatened Democrats with arrest and declaring their seats vacant. US Sen. John Cornyn is looking for to enlist the FBI to search out Texas lawmakers who’ve left the state.
Issues are messy and solely getting messier.
To know the showdown in Texas — and its stakes for the remainder of the nation — At the moment, Defined co-host Sean Rameswaram spoke with Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff.
Under is an excerpt of their dialog, edited for size and readability. There’s rather more within the full podcast, so take heed to At the moment, Defined wherever you get podcasts, together with Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.
Eleanor Klibanoff: So that is one thing we began listening to about a few weeks in the past. We heard that President Trump was asking Texas to contemplate redrawing its congressional maps to strengthen the GOP majority within the Home forward of the 2026 election.
The Texas Home has a proposed redraw of the map that tears up a bunch of districts within the Dallas space, the Houston space, the Austin space, in addition to the Rio Grande Valley. And based mostly on our preliminary evaluation, it seems like if the 2026 midterms go the way in which the 2024 election went, they are going to get 5 further seats out of this map. The [Texas] Home committee on redistricting held a number of hearings. … A thousand individuals confirmed up in Houston. Individuals submitted feedback. They had been ready hours and hours to testify.
The committee votes the map out [for a full legislature vote] on Saturday. On Sunday, they set [that vote] on the calendar for Monday. And Sunday afternoon, the Democrats skip city.
Most of them went to Chicago — effectively, truly, most of them went to the suburbs of Chicago. My colleague who agreed to exit when she thought it was Chicago was disillusioned to be taught that they had been in St. Charles, Illinois, effectively exterior Chicago. In order that they went there, the place they’ve gotten numerous help from Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker.
Others went to New York, the place the governor there has mentioned they are going to have a look at redistricting. Some went to Massachusetts. [They are] simply form of fanning out to those Democratic strongholds, primarily.
Have they got to go there as a result of, what, a Republican governor might extradite them again to Texas?
Sure, primarily, they’ve to depart the state. The [state] Home of Representatives, of their absence, voted to concern arrest warrants for them that mainly say: We’ll ship state troopers to your home or we’ll attempt to monitor you down. If we discover you, we’ll deliver you to the Capitol, and then you definately can not go away.
These are usually not felony arrest warrants. It doesn’t go on their document, but it surely’s to go discover them and produce them [back]. However these warrants solely prolong to state strains. In order that they have to depart the state for concern that they are going to be introduced again.
In fact, there’s a federal police power. I imagine it’s referred to as the FBI, and the most recent information is that the FBI may truly get entangled right here.
Definitely, there was some chatter about that. Our sitting Senator John Cornyn has requested for the FBI to get entangled. President Trump form of alluded to possibly that being vital.
That might be a unprecedented step if that had been to occur. I’m keen to imagine that by the point this airs, it could have occurred. I don’t suppose it’s out of the realm of chance, however Texas is a state that fairly proudly likes to handle its personal enterprise itself and preserve the federal authorities out of its affairs. So it could be fairly the reversal to permit the federal authorities to arrest its lawmakers and produce them again to Texas.
That is clearly an excessive second for Texas politics, but it surely’s additionally not an unprecedented one. As I recall, Texas Democrats have fled the state earlier than, proper? Are you able to remind us beneath what circumstances and the way it ended?
Just lately, they left the state in 2021, to protest a invoice that may have additional restricted voting entry. That was through the Biden administration, type of a unique vibe in DC. They caught it on the market. They burned via one particular session, however when the second particular session was referred to as, they did find yourself returning, and in the end it did cross. After which in 2003, they left the state to do a quorum break on this actual concern, which is a mid-decade redistricting.
So there’s precedent for this to occur. I feel what’s unprecedented about that is A) the stress for the laws that they’re protesting is coming from the federal authorities, and B) the way in which Texas Republican leaders are responding with this very — normally they simply type of wait it out, and ultimately the quorum break breaks, and that isn’t how that is going.
How did it return in 2003 when virtually the identical factor occurred?
Ultimately, the quorum break broke, and so they got here again and so they handed the maps, and that was the start of Republican dominance in Texas. The rationale they did mid-decade redistricting in 2003 in any respect was as a result of [Republicans] had simply received the [state] Home and the Senate for the primary time. In order that they took the chance, redrew maps that benefited them, and from there on out, we’ve got seen mainly unfettered Republican dominance in Texas.
So the Democrats who simply fled and are in Chicago and different spots…
…the Chicago suburbs, we should always observe. They know that the final time they gave in on this concern, they endlessly altered their possibilities of dominating Texas politics.
Does that imply they’re going to carry out longer this time? Does that imply it’s going to get uglier this time?
If historical past is any information, they go away, ultimately they arrive again, and what was going to occur occurs. I feel they don’t like this narrative that it’s inevitable. When you simply wait ‘em out, they’ll come again. It is usually simply actuality, proper?These individuals have jobs they must go to, and so they have children. I imply, faculty begins right here quickly. Are you going to overlook the primary day of college? A few of them introduced their children with them.
And now you’re mainly a fugitive from your house state. Texas is a part-time legislature. You make $600 a month, you possibly can’t feed your loved ones and go away your organization behind or what you are promoting or no matter.
So there are simply realities. And the reality is [Republicans] don’t want all of them to interrupt the quorum break. You understand, simply within the final day right here, we’ve had this form of escalation from Governor Abbott wherein he has requested the Texas Supreme Court docket to vacate the seats of those members who’ve damaged quorum, which is unprecedented, surprising to all of the authorized consultants that I’ve talked to. So there’s each form of, inside Texas, a constitutional disaster, after which after all these nationwide democracy questions on who will get to resolve when the principles are set and whenever you change the principles in the course of the sport.
After which what occurs? Republicans aren’t essentially assured these 5 seats, however they’ll most likely get ’em?
Proper. So if the quorum break ends in a method or one other, they completely will cross the map. We’ll have the midterms in 2026. These districts appear very prone to go for Republicans based mostly on 2024 efficiency.
However 2024 was a reasonably distinctive yr in Texas, most notably that we noticed Latino voters swing to this point for President Trump in comparison with historic precedent. And numerous these maps are based mostly on the concept that those self same voters will go for Republican candidates throughout the board in 2026.
Now, President Trump just isn’t on the poll in 2026. It stays to be seen whether or not Latino voters are pondering, That is what I voted for and I like this, or if there’s any purchaser’s regret that may flip a few of these seats a bit bit extra aggressive than you’ll suppose.
It’s additionally not assured that Donald Trump will get his 5 Republican districts, as a result of now that Texas goes this route, governors like Gavin Newsom in California are threatening revenge.
Proper. We’ve got mainly a redistricting arms race afoot now, and also you’ve obtained governors in California, New York, and Illinois saying, “Possibly we’ll check out our maps.”
However then you definately even have President Trump saying, “Effectively, then I’ll get Missouri to try their maps.” Now, out of the blue, we’re in a multitude of a scenario. You’ve obtained even some Republican lawmakers in Congress speaking about laws to mainly say, “we’ve got to cease this earlier than it will get on prime of us.”
A part of the explanation why that is occurring in Texas first is that we’re very massive, and so you will get 5 seats in a method that some states don’t even have 5 seats [total]. But additionally, our submitting deadline [for candidates to run] could be very, very early, and so that is simply form of a testing floor in Texas. There’s no purpose to imagine that with President Trump, 5 seats will likely be sufficient and that he’ll cease there versus attempting to get different states to redistrict as effectively.
