Abbott threatens to draw new map that would give GOP eight new seats
Texas governor Greg Abbott has threatened to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Republicans with up to eight additional seats if Texas Democrats do not return to the state legislature soon. The Democrats left Texas and went to blue-leaning states to deny the legislature a quorum and block the redistricting effort. Abbott criticized their absence as unprofessional and said the new map would be passed irrespective,even if it means expanding Republican gains beyond the initially proposed five seats. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders plan to support Texas Democrats in their resistance. abbott has also taken legal steps and threatened arrest or removal of absent Democrats.The political standoff highlights ongoing national debates over redistricting, gerrymandering, and voting rights, with Republicans pushing back against what they characterize as Democratic gerrymandering in blue states.
Abbott threatens ‘expanding’ new map to give GOP eight more seats if Texas Democrats don’t return
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said he would draw a congressional map that is even more favorable to Republicans if Texas Democrats don’t return soon.
Abbott’s new map would boost Republicans to eight additional House seats, up from the five proposed initially, if the Democrats who left to deny the Texas legislature a quorum don’t return, he said on a Friday episode of the Ruthless Podcast.
Texas Democrats left last week and took refuge in blue states such as Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
“What I’m thinking now is that if they don’t start showing up, I may start expanding,” Abbott said. “We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we’re going to be adding on the Republican side.”
The Texas governor insisted his maps will pass.
“They’re going to come back, or we’ll be able to track them down. One way or the other, they’re coming back, and it’s going to end with these maps being passed,” Abbott said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), a chief figure in the redistricting resistance, will participate in a news conference with Texas Democrats on Friday, along with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other leaders of the California state legislature. Newsom and others are expected to give an update on his plan to call a special election so voters can decide whether to enact Democratic-friendly maps in his state.
Abbott has pressured the Texas Democrats to return, threatening them with arrest or expulsion from their elected offices. He filed an emergency petition to the Texas Supreme Court asking for the removal of Democratic Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu.
The governor said the Democrats’ flight is “embarrassing.”
“How embarrassing is that?” Abbott said. “That’s something that school kids do, you know, ‘I’m losing the game! I’m just gonna walk away and leave.’ That’s not the way adults operate. It’s not the way that employees operate. But know this, Texans, that’s the way your Texas Democrats operate, and that’s exactly why more and more Texans are voting Republican than ever before.”
Without a return of the Texas Democrats, the state’s new congressional map will be delayed.
Texas Republicans began a national debate and a redistricting effort after President Donald Trump ordered them to draw a congressional map to award five more Republican House seats.
The president also recently called for a new census. A new census could grant Republicans more House seats via reapportionment and possibly further justify the mid-decade redistricting effort. Trump said this new census would only count legal citizens in the country. However, there is “no legal mechanism” for a mid-decade census, the Washington Examiner reported.
Abbott suggested Texas Republicans are justified because blue states are gerrymandered.
“Americans have now realized how gerrymandered all these blue states are,” Abbott said. “They now see that map in Illinois, they’ve seen the map in New York, they see that 40% of the people in Massachusetts voted for President Trump, and yet there are zero Republican congressional districts there. Look at what happened in California. The worst examples of gerrymandering are Democrat states. And now Americans have realized that.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said Thursday that the FBI will assist Texas in locating the Democratic lawmakers, escalating the search-and-return effort.
ABSENT TEXAS DEMOCRATS SLAM FBI OVER REDISTRICTING MANHUNT: ‘NO AUTHORITY’
Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, of Joe Rogan fame, denounced the search effort.
“Trump threatened to arrest us,” he posted on X. “Abbott threatened to remove us from office. Paxton threatened to ‘hunt’ us down. Yesterday, we received a bomb threat. But we will not back down.”
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