{"id":2472639,"date":"2025-08-08T19:04:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T23:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ken-paxton-moves-to-strip-seats-from-absentee-texas-democrats-in-historic-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T19:06:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T23:06:30","slug":"breaking-ken-paxton-moves-to-strip-seats-from-absentee-texas-democrats-in-historic-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ken-paxton-moves-to-strip-seats-from-absentee-texas-democrats-in-historic-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Ken Paxton Moves to Strip Seats from Absentee Texas Democrats in Historic Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbreaking-ken-paxton-moves-to-strip-seats-from-absentee-texas-democrats-in-historic-lawsuit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2472639&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas Attorney General ken Paxton has filed a historic lawsuit against 13 Democratic Texas House members who fled the state to prevent a quorum in the legislature. This walkout occurred during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kemp-ends-attempt-to-have-special-session-to-oust-fani-willis-there-will-be-no-political-theater\/\" title=\"Kemp halts bid for special session to remove Fani Willis: No room for &#039;political theater&#039;.\">special session aimed<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >passing redistricting legislation unfavorable<\/a> to Democrats. Paxton seeks a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-d-a-s-challenge-new-rule-that-could-make-76000-inmates-eligible-for-early-release\/\" title=\"California D.A.s Challenge New Rule That Could Make 76,000 Inmates Eligible For Early Release\">court order declaring<\/a> these lawmakers&#8217; seats vacant due to their unlawful absences and failure to meet the return deadline set by the House Speaker. He argues that their actions constitute abandonment of office and an intentional disruption of the constitutional legislative process. While upholding the rights of a legislative minority to dissent, Paxton maintains that this kind of coordinated absence cannot be allowed to prevent the legislature from functioning.The lawsuit requests a writ of quo warranto from the Texas Supreme Court to officially vacate the seats of the absent Democrats to restore government operations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has gone nuclear on Democrats who fled the state.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve filed a historic lawsuit against Democrat runaways in SCOTX to secure an order declaring their seats vacant,&rdquo; Paxton <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KenPaxtonTX\/status\/1953900513143271925\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Democrats are a minority in the Texas legislature, their absence prevents the legislature from having a quorum, which means no business gets done in a special session called to pass redistricting legislation that would put Democrats in a deeper hole.<\/p>\n<p>The stunt was done in 2003 and 2021, resulting in a delay in the eventual passage of the legislation Democrats wanted to block.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: I&rsquo;ve filed a historic lawsuit against Democrat runaways in SCOTX to secure an order declaring their seats vacant.<\/p>\n<p>These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process. Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FDVVEjQDIx\">pic.twitter.com\/FDVVEjQDIx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KenPaxtonTX\/status\/1953900513143271925?\">August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Paxton said his lawsuit seeks to have a judge declare that &ldquo;13 Texas House seats have been vacated due to continued unlawful absences by Democrat legislators who failed to meet the return deadline set by Speaker Dustin Burrows,&rdquo; according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasattorneygeneral.gov\/news\/releases\/attorney-general-ken-paxton-files-historic-lawsuit-against-democrat-runaways-scotx-secure-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news release posted on his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The rogue Democrat legislators who fled the state have abandoned their duties, leaving their seats vacant,&rdquo; Paxton said in the release.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process and violated the oath they swore to uphold. Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on. I have asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare what has been clear from the beginning: that the runaway members have officially vacated their offices in the Texas House,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The release said the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/two-runaway-texas-democrats-reportedly-left-dc-overseas-vacation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> focuses on 13 Democrats who the release said &ldquo;made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return, essentially confirming in their own words the very grounds for this legal action.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasattorneygeneral.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/press\/Quo%20Warranto%20SCOTX%20Filed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filing<\/a>, Paxton argued that &ldquo;Members of a legislative minority are intentionally interfering with &lsquo;the prerogative of the majority to conduct business.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These actions aim to prevent the Legislature from exercising the legislative power conferred on it by the Texas Constitution &hellip; depriving the people of Texas of a functioning government and, if allowed to continue, would create &lsquo;an absolute supermajoritarian check on the legislature&rsquo;s ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-caucus-members-vow-to-cut-spending-hint-at-consequences-for-speaker-mccarthy\/\" title=\"Freedom Caucus ... pledge to reduce spending, imply repercussions for Speaker McCarthy.\">pass legislation opposed<\/a> by a minority faction,&rsquo;&rdquo; the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Texas AG moves to vacate seats amid Democrat walkout\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0blg35uPtsg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Despite express and unequivocal notice that their continued failure to perform the duties of their offices would constitute an abandonment of those offices, members of the legislative minority have continued their course of action. To restore a functioning legislative department to the people of Texas, the Attorney General petitions this Court, on behalf of the State of Texas, for writs of quo warranto declaring Respondents&rsquo; offices vacant,&rdquo; Paxton&rsquo;s filing said.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton noted that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/eye-popping-price-tag-texas-democrats-runaway-stunt-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Democrats<\/a> &ldquo;readily admit that they intend to disrupt the operation of the Texas House of Representatives and the Legislature more broadly.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats&rsquo; &ldquo;persistent and willful refusal to perform their duties is undisputed &mdash; indeed, gleefully conceded &mdash; and therefore demonstrates as a matter of law an intent to abandon and relinquish their offices,&rdquo; Paxton argued.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit noted that Paxton is not trying to muzzle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-delivers-bad-news-absconded-texas-democrats-cant-just-sit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dissent<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Texas Constitution, statutes, and rules provide a broad range tools for members of a legislative minority to be heard. But those tools do not include concerted effort by members of the minority to disrupt the functioning of the Legislature by abdicating their duties, including spurning the constitutional authority of the remaining members to compel their attendance,&rdquo; the filing said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When members of the Legislature disregard arrest warrants, refuse to perform their duties, and announce that they intend to prevent the Legislature from exercising its constitutional responsibilities, they have, through words and conduct, demonstrated an intent to relinquish and abandon their offices. The alternative would empower a minority faction to disrupt the operation of the chamber,&rdquo; the filing said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken aggressive legal action against Democrats who left the state. He announced on X that he filed a historic lawsuit in the Texas Supreme Court seeking to have their seats declared vacant. Although Democrats are a minority in the Texas legislature, their absence blocks a quorum, halting legislative business during a special session aimed at passing redistricting laws unfavorable to them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2472640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Paxton-vs-redistricting-map.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32692,34069,38244,4585,53075],"class_list":["post-2472639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-absentee-ballots","tag-election-news","tag-ken-paxton","tag-lawsuit","tag-texas-democrats"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Paxton-vs-redistricting-map.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472639"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2472643,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472639\/revisions\/2472643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2472640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}