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The move would be a sharp escalation in the bitterly partisan clash over a congressional redistricting requested by President Trump.
Aug. 3, 2025Updated 5:24 p.m. ET
Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives said they’re leaving the state on Sunday, in what would amount to a last-ditch attempt to stop Republicans from adopting an aggressively redrawn congressional map. Their absence would prevent the House from reaching the quorum needed to hold a vote this week.
The move to walk out was a sharp escalation in the bitter partisan clash over a mid-decade redistricting in Texas that was requested by President Trump. Republicans in the State Legislature were rapidly moving forward, with the map — drawn to flip five Democratic congressional districts to favor Republicans — being passed out of two committees over the weekend.
A floor debate on the map, and a potential vote of the full House, was scheduled for Monday.
The ultimate outcome would be far from certain: a walkout by the Democrats’ could delay action in the Legislature for several weeks or more, but comparable past attempts to block Republican legislation and redistricting in Texas have eventually failed.
It was not clear if they were still in Texas on Sunday afternoon or had already left.
Most of the Democratic lawmakers who took part were aiming to head to Chicago. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois has been weighing whether his state would respond to the move in Texas by redrawing its own congressional map in the Democrats’ favor.
The Texas Democrats planned to hold a news conference with Mr. Pritzker at 7:15 p.m. Central time at a local Democratic Party office near the city.
A smaller group of Texas Democrats were planning to go to New York, where they were expected to meet this week with Gov. Kathy Hochul. She has also been looking for ways that her state could respond to the Republican move.
