Have you ever been in an argument with someone and been so upset that you walked away to end the fight? Something similar began happening recently in the Texas state legislature. Texas Republicans are trying to pass a law that would redraw their voting districts to create several new seats in the U.S. Congress. But in order to hold a vote on the measure, a certain number of legislators must be present. Fifty Democratic lawmakers walked out and left the state. Here, btw takes a closer look at what’s happening, when this strategy has been tried before, and how effective is the strategy.
What is the Vote About?
Republicans hold the majority in the Texas legislature. They want to re-draw their voting districts to create five new ones in Republican-controlled areas. This would make it possible to elect five more Republicans to Congress. This measure is supported by President Trump, who wants to improve the GOPs chances of maintaining a majority of congressional seats after the 2026 midterm election. (In the 2018 midterm election in Trump’s first term, Democrats gained 41 seats.) At the moment, using current maps, Democrats are only three seats away from gaining the majority in the House of Representatives. For this reason, Trump is also urging other Republican-controlled states to take similar measures.
Typically, voting maps are redrawn by the states once every ten years, after the national census. Texas Democrats disagree with this plan to redraw the maps in the middle of the decade. But because they are the minority, simply voting against it won’t keep the measure from passing.
Breaking Quorum
So, Texas Democrats decided to break quorum. Quorum is the number of members needed in order to conduct business. The Texas House needs 100 members present for quorum, but there are only 88 Republicans. That means that 12 Democrats must be present for the House to hold a vote. So 50 Democratic legislators have walked out and left the state, making it impossible for their Republican colleagues to pass the legislation.
Texas Republicans have responded by filing civil arrest warrants against the Democrats, which gives Texas state troopers the authority to arrest them and bring them back. But the Democrats haven’t committed any crime which would cause them to be extradited from those states. Furthermore, they deliberately fled to states with Democratic majority governments, where local authorities might be sympathetic to their political action and refuse to comply with the Texas order.
Will it Work?
While breaking quorum has the power to delay the vote, it doesn’t have the power to stop it. Even though the special session to consider the proposed map ends on August 19, 2025, the Texas governor can call as many special sessions as he wants to, as often as he wants to. Also, serving in the Texas legislature is only a part-time job. Many of the legislators hold other jobs that they must eventually return to, not to mention their families and other responsibilities. They can’t stay out of state forever.
In the long run, while leaving the state will definitely delay the vote, it won’t stop it completely. And when the Democrats do return, they will be outnumbered when the vote is held.
Has This Ever Been Tried Before?
In 1870, thirteen Democrats withdrew from the U.S. Senate to prevent a vote on a controversial militia bill. That time, the Republican lawmakers had all but four of them arrested. (Four were needed to reach quorum.)
The technique has been used in modern times as well. In 2003, House Democrats in Texas broke quorum twice to stop Republican efforts to redraw voting maps. More recently, in 2021, Democratic lawmakers walked out of another Texas legislative session to protest a law that made changes to voting rights. That time, the lawmakers stayed away for five weeks. However, some of them eventually had to come back, and then the vote was held and passed. Republicans also responded by creating a new rule that absent lawmakers must pay a $500 per day fine, but that rule has never actually been tested in court.
National Repercussions
While this dispute is happening in Texas, the outcome has the power to affect the entire country. Changing the maps in Texas will give Republicans more seats in Congress. So Democratic leaders across the country are urging Texas Republicans to stand down to keep the issue from escalating further. Some Democratic governors, such as Gavin Newsom of California, have pledged to fight back by passing their own redistricting maps to counteract this one.