NBC News- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ramping up pressure on state Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block redistricting legislation, saying in an exclusive interview with NBC News that he'll call "special session after special session after special session" and that the Republican-led state House has approved civil arrest warrants for the missing lawmakers.
"Democrats act like they're not going to come back as long as this is an issue," Abbott said. "That means they're not going to come back until like 2027 or 2028, because I'm going to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there."
Abbott defended the mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying they're necessary because "both the law and the facts have changed since we drew the lines back in 2021." And, he said, the results of the 2024 election is political justification for redrawing the maps.
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state earlier this week, a decision that halts action on redistricting, as well as other bills in the legislature. It has also led to mounting fines and financial uncertainty for the lawmakers who have left their families and day jobs for an extended period of time. Read the full story here.
MSNBC - California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are crafting plans to fight back against President Donald Trump’s push for a radical gerrymandering scheme in Texas, which would help rig the 2026 midterm elections in favor of the GOP.
This sign of resistance from the Democratic establishment means Democrats appear to be warming up to the idea of fighting dirty to beat back Trump’s exploitive agenda. But it’s also making clear that matching Trump’s energy could easily push democratic norms in the country backward for everyone.
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