In Texas, Democratic lawmakers often have few cards to play when attempting to thwart legislation they oppose. As has happened before, most recently in 2021, sometimes the only trick up their collective sleeve is to simply disappear. Citing what they call Gov. Greg Abbott’s “dereliction of duty and his submission to Donald Trump’s demands,” Democratic House members are headed to Chicago instead of Austin.
“For two weeks, while families in the Hill Country mourned the loss of over 130 Texans in catastrophic floods, Democrats fought to make their relief the legislature’s top priority,” read a statement from the Texas House Democratic Caucus. “Instead, Governor Abbott and Republican leadership used the tragedy as political cover, ramming through a corrupt, racially-motivated mid-decade redistricting plan designed to silence millions of Black and Latino voters and steal five congressional seats for Donald Trump.”
To conduct business, the 150-member House requires the presence of at least 100 members. Therefore, if 51 or more Democrats are absent, the Legislature’s ongoing special session can be brought to a halt. There are 62 Democrats serving in the Texas House.
Let me be clear: Texans didn’t ask for this map.
— Representative Mihaela E. Pleșa (@plesafortexas) August 3, 2025
Trump did.
Republicans are scrambling to hold onto power they know they’re losing.
We should be fixing problems—not rigging elections.#Txlege
State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, from Collin County, is the vice chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. She explained her stance on X Sunday afternoon.
“Let me be clear: Texans didn’t ask for this map. Trump did,” she wrote. “Republicans are scrambling to hold onto power they know they’re losing. We should be fixing problems—not rigging elections.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety can apprehend missing House members if they are found within state lines. On that note, another local House member, Republican Jared Patterson of Frisco, is less than convinced that all the Democrats took off.
“I doubt 51 or more Democrats actually left the state. Many will remain close to their families and jobs,” he posted to X. “Given such, I urge the Speaker to issue a Call on the House as soon as possible and send the House Sgt and DPS to apprehend anyone not on the House Floor at 3pm Monday.”
Congressional redistricting typically occurs only every 10 years following a new Census. But following Trump’s urging to create a more GOP-friendly scenario for the 2026 mid-term elections, Abbott added redistricting to the crowded special session agenda, which already featured a pair of hotly debated topics: THC regulation and flood preparedness.
Patterson isn’t the only North Texas Republican freaking out over the Dem exodus. Noted rule follower, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, brought threats to his social media feed.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he posted to X on Sunday. “We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
Plano Republican Rep. Jeff Leach brought a sense of humor to the issue when he (again) invoked his family history with arguably America’s most famous hot dog.
For any of my Democrat colleagues who want a ride back to Texas after your hotdogging quorum-break attempt implodes, give me a call and I’ll have my dad come pick you up and bring you back to work…#txlege pic.twitter.com/9aI78HMqn9
— Jeff Leach (@leachfortexas) August 3, 2025
“For any of my Democrat colleagues who want a ride back to Texas after your hotdogging quorum-break attempt implodes, give me a call and I’ll have my dad come pick you up and bring you back to work,” Leach wrote along with a picture of the iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, a ride for which Leach’s father has worked as a driver of.
“We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans,” said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu of Houston in the statement. “We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.”
