Texas Democrats Plan Return After Fleeing To Block GOP Redistricting

Texas House Democrats are set to return home after a weeks-long absence aimed at derailing Republican efforts to redraw the state’s congressional districts, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Sources told ABC 13 Houston the group believes it has “accomplished its mission” by killing the current special legislative session, which expires next Tuesday. The exact timing of their return to Austin remains unclear.

The Democrats’ decision comes on the same day Texas Senate Republicans approved the new congressional maps, which must now clear the House before heading to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows had said they would adjourn the special session this Friday if the lawmakers remained absent.

Abbott, however, has already indicated that he will call another special session immediately and may broaden the agenda to include additional Republican priorities. “As soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another one,” Abbott warned earlier this month.

The walkout tactic is nothing new for Texas Democrats. In 2021, more than 50 fled to Washington, D.C., in a failed attempt to block GOP election security legislation. That move prompted Abbott to call three consecutive special sessions, with Republicans ultimately passing the bill in August.

This latest standoff underscores a familiar pattern: Democrats leaving the state to deny the House a quorum, and Republicans responding with repeated special sessions until their legislation passes. With Abbott signaling he’s prepared to keep lawmakers in Austin indefinitely, the return of House Democrats may mark only a temporary truce in a larger battle over Texas’s political future.

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