But that was from 2003, not 2026.
2003 was a different time — a really different time, especially in Texas politics.
As much as Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, may clutch their Windsor knots in shock over the current Texas House Democratic Caucus leaving the state to prevent a vote on redrawing Texas’ congressional maps, such drastic action is hardly unheard of.
In 2003, the notion of a Republican-led, let alone GOP-dominated, state government was still somewhat novel. And though quorum busting has a long history, the concept seemed to be a bit more uncommon then, at least. The House Dems who decamped to Ardmore, Oklahoma, just north of the state line, during the 2003 regular session were given the nickname “Killer Ds,” while the senators who left the state to break quorum in that summer’s special session were dubbed “The Texas 11.”
May 2003: Democratic legislators in Texas flee state to protest mid-decade redistricting push pic.twitter.com/5pnwAYbdWA
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) August 6, 2025
The 78th Texas Legislature of 2003 was the first time Republicans controlled the House in over 100 years. That session also represented the first time in many decades that the Senate was either not basically even or controlled by Democrats. For many in Texas, such a scenario is likely hard to fathom. And that is why it’s unlikely that the 2025 walkout will bring about a different result than a Republican victory, as it did in 2003 or 2021 when Democrats broke quorum to combat changes to voting rights in Texas.
“The goal of Texas Democrats regarding redistricting does not seem realistic,” says Ben Voth, an SMU political science professor. “The two walkouts of 2003 and 2021 were not successful and there is more political momentum on the side of the Republicans than there was in 2003 and 2021. There is an exceptional political alignment for the Republicans in both legislative chambers at the federal and state levels. The Supreme Court is in a relatively conservative alignment and also makes increasingly hostile decisions against redistricting as envisioned by the Democrats.”
Abbott and Paxton have each grabbed headlines over the past week as they seek ways to remove the current crop of quorum-busters from their elected positions. In 2003, then Gov. Rick Perry didn’t issue such threats; however, similar to the current state leadership, he did order the Texas DPS to try to apprehend the missing Democrats.
But were the 2003 Democrats successful in their efforts to thwart mid-census redistricting?
Not even close.
The 2003 move made national headlines, bringing great attention to the cause, but even with both chambers preventing their own quorums, merely delaying the redistricting was the chief accomplishment. Breaking quorum in such a dramatic fashion was the only arrow the Democrats had in their quiver, so it was worth the shot, as far as they saw it. Twenty-two years later, and with Republican control far more entrenched now, the same can perhaps still be said.
But partisanship is far more intense, the aisle much less crossed now than 22 years ago. In 2003, there was some light chatter from states with Democratic leadership about redrawing their own maps to counter Texas’ redistricting, but it was more hypothetical and rhetorical. Now, the threats of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul should be taken quite seriously, especially given that it was partisanship in the form of President Donald Trump looking to Texas for additional Republican congressional seats that led Abbott to add redistricting to the special session agenda to begin with.
Voth says that Trump’s role in the redistricting fight “has created an overwhelming political situation for dissident Democrats,” but that’s not all that’s going against the quaorum breakers.
“Underlying this ideological collapse is the changing nature of minority voting in Texas,” the professor says. “The decline of Hispanic affiliation with Democrats, especially in the Rio Grande, complicates the fundamental premise of racially motivated redistricting. In fact, the Republicans have some basis for thinking that new districts provide a more accurate representation of Hispanic and other minority support for the Republican Party. All minority support for the Republican Party has grown in Texas since 2020.”
Time is on the red side, not the blue’s. Abbott can and will likely continue to call special sessions to get redistricting over the finish line. We don't have to look back as far as 2003. We have a much more recent example to show us how the governor can wield his power to push through the legislation he prizes. In other words, what the Republicans in Texas want, they will get in due time, until election days begin to look considerably different.
In 2023, Abbott called four special sessions to try to get his school voucher program approved. But even when the regular session and four special sessions didn’t succeed, Abbott went on a highly effective warpath of revenge, endorsing primary opponents of Republican House members who had voted against vouchers. Unlike the Democratic quorum breaks of 2003 and 2021, Abbott’s move worked.
