Texas legislators hiding in Illinois to avoid vote on redrawn election maps

A standoff in Texas over redrawn U.S. House maps sought by President Donald Trump sharply escalated Sunday when dozens of Democratic legislators left the state to block a vote, followed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott warning them that he will seek their removal from office if they don’t return.

Abbott says he will begin trying to remove Democratic lawmakers from office Monday if they don’t return after dozens of them fled to Chicago, Boston and Albany, New York in a last-resort attempt to block redrawn U.S. House maps that President Donald Trump wants before the 2026 midterm elections.

The new congressional maps drawn by Texas Republicans would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats.

In response to Texas’ rare mid-decade political gerrymander, Democratic governors have floated the possibility of redrawing their own state’s maps in retaliation, but their options are limited.

Many of the Texas Democrats were bound for Illinois and a welcoming from Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, who in recent weeks has offered them support.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu declined to say how long lawmakers were prepared to stay out of Texas, and it was unclear whether the gambit would succeed. Four years ago, House Democrats left Texas for 38 days in protest of new voting restrictions that still wound up passing once the holdout ended.

Lawmakers can’t pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber and at least 51 left the state. 



(AP Photo Eric Gay)