Texas moves to arrest Democrats who fled to block redistricting plan

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton called for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a Republican-led redistricting plan. The Texas House later voted to authorize their arrest.

“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Governor Abbott said in a statement on Monday. “To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.”

Attorney General Paxton called the lawmakers’ actions a “cowardly desertion” and vowed to use “every legal tool” to enforce the law.

“These jet-setting runaways abandoned Texas, abdicated their duties in the House, and sacrificed their constituents for a publicity stunt,” Paxton said. He also referenced a 2021 Texas Supreme Court ruling that permits the arrest of absent members to restore quorum.

The House vote, taken hours after Abbott’s order and Paxton’s statement, passed 85–6 and granted authority to detain the absent Democrats and return them to the Capitol.

The Democrats left the state on Sunday to prevent a vote on a congressional redistricting map that would shift district boundaries in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and South Texas. The map, backed by President Trump and approved along party lines in committee, could give Republicans as many as five additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

In response to the arrest order, the Texas House Democratic Caucus issued a statement from Chicago, where members have gathered after leaving the state.

“After Gov. Greg Abbott threatened lawmakers with arrest and expulsion from the House of Representatives for denying him a quorum to pass his racist mid-decade redistricting scheme, the Texas House Democratic Caucus issued the following statement: COME AND TAKE IT,” the caucus said.

The Texas Legislature passed a law in 2023 allowing for fines of $500 per day and potential arrest for lawmakers who leave the state to break quorum. Redistricting remains the only item currently on the House’s legislative calendar.