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Texas Governor Plans to REMOVE FROM OFFICE Dem Lawmakers Who ‘Forfeited Their Seats’ | JP

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott is threatening consequences that could be even more impactful than arrest for Democrat lawmakers who fled Texas over the weekend.

The democrats abandoned their elected positions to stop legislation that would adjust the congressional voting districts in Texas.

You may have already heard that this redraw of the voting map would be bad news for Congresswoman Jasmine Crocket… but that’s not all it would do:

The US House would likely see an increase by five Republican Representatives if the legislation goes forward.

Now, Greg Abbot isn’t just threatening arrest for the Democrats who broke quorum to thwart the vote for that redistricting.

In line with Texas AG Ken Paxton’s plans to hold those Democrats accountable, he’s threatening to REPLACE them in the Texas legislature if they don’t return to their state positions — removing them from office for good!

Gov. Abbott is on the warpath with those no-show Democrats in his crosshairs.

Here’s a clip from the interview Abbott gave to Fox News explaining the issue from his standpoint:

It would only take a handful of the Democrats to return, in order to fulfill the rules for conducting business and holding votes in the Texas legislature.

The deadline for the nearly 50 Democrats to return to fulfill their elected roles is looming only hours away with both Paxton and Abbott ready to take action, according to Fox News:

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to arrest and expel the Texas House Democrats who fled the state to avoid a redistricting vote if they do not return by Monday afternoon.

Abbott criticized the Democrats’ dramatic departure, starting his call for them to return with, “real Texans don’t run from a fight.”

At least 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present to conduct business, and approximately 50 of the Democrats have left. Abbott said their commitment to voting as elected state officials is a duty and is “not optional.”

The Texas House is set to reconvene at 3 p.m. on Monday and Abbott said the “derelict Democrat House members must return” by then or face being removed from their positions by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Republican AG has already stated that the lawmakers “should be found and arrested no matter where they go.”

The Democrats in question have Rep. Jasmine Crockett as their most vocal spokesperson.

Sen. Mike Lee shared this clip of her completely melting down, throwing all three branches of government under the bus, because she knows the Democrats have basically lost all relevancy:

It could also be that she knows she’s about to be drawn out of her own Congressional district.

The state legislators have also responded to Paxton and Abbott’s threats, according to Newsweek:

Texas Democrats who left the state in a bid to block redrawn U.S. House maps have responded to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s threat to remove them from office if they don’t return by Monday afternoon.

In a statement on Sunday, Abbott threatened to expel the Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives and said they may have committed felonies.

“This is ridiculous and absolutely unacceptable,” Texas State Representative Elizabeth Campos, a Democrat, wrote on X early Monday. “Threatening legal action against lawmakers for standing up to protect our democracy is not leadership, it’s intimidation. We have every right to fight. Fighting for fair representation is not running from a fight, it’s standing up.”

Another State Representative Vikki Goodwin, who traveled to New York, wrote on X that she was “willing to take the risk of being arrested, removed from office, or fined $500 a day.”

Abbott’s threat has intensified the standoff over the new congressional maps that President Donald Trump wants before the 2026 midterm elections. The maps drawn by Texas Republicans would create five new Republican-leaning seats in Texas before next year, which would bolster the party’s chances of preserving its slim U.S. House majority.

A vote on the Republican-backed redistricting maps had been set for Monday in the Texas House of Representatives, but it cannot proceed if the majority of Democratic members deny a quorum by not showing up.

As noted, many of the Democrats are putting up a good front.

A good many of them are claiming they are more than willing to endure fines and arrest in order to hold their ground against the redistricting in Texas.

Here’s the clip mentioned in the Newsweek article I quoted above, uploaded by Texas Democratic legislator Vikki Goodwin, claiming that President Trump ordered Gov. Abbott to ‘rig’ Texas elections:

I would take issue with who is actually trying to ‘rig’ the system in Texas, considering Rep. Vikki Goodwin had to upload that message from NEW YORK!

This is also not the first time the tantrum-throwing Democratic lawmakers in Texas have pulled this stunt, as reported by The Hill:

Texas Democrats fled the state Sunday to deny the GOP a legislative quorum as part of an effort to prevent Republicans from redrawing the Lone Star State’s congressional maps.

The move deprives the Texas state Legislature of the numbers it needs to function, stalling progress on the maps — but comes with big risks for the state Democrats, including steep fines and the threat of arrest.

The 150-member state House needs at least two-thirds of its members present for a quorum, and just enough Democrats left the state to deny it. They split up their destinations among solidly Democratic states — Illinois, New York and Massachusetts.

This isn’t the first time Texas Democrats, who have long been a minority in the state chambers, have turned to this strategy to try to stall a particularly controversial plan state Republicans were proposing.

They fled in 2003 when Republicans were pursuing an earlier middecade redistricting plan and again in 2021 to try to stop a bill to implement new voting restrictions. In both cases, the proposals were delayed but ultimately passed.

As that story mentioned, in every case like this, the legislation the Democrats in Texas tried to thwart ultimately went forward anyway, in due time.

And the Democrats were left with nothing but an expensive political soundbite.

Nevertheless, Texas AG Ken Paxton has explained that although he’s ready to arrest the rogue Democrats, that isn’t something that instantly forces the Democratic state lawmakers to do their job… and show up for the vote.

Check out this clip of Paxton explaining those issues with Benny Johnson:

Ultimately, as Paxton pointed out, it would be a challenge for all 50 Democrat lawmakers to stay out of Texas for the remainder of their lives and avoid the consequences.

Paxton and Abbott both seem seriously determined to ensure those Democrats don’t simply skate by without paying a price for their abandonment tactic.

There are still a lot of ways this could play out — including a handful of Democrats that might end up breaking ranks and returning by today’s vote — fearing the consequences otherwise.





Source
Las Vegas News Magazine

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