Texas, Capitol and Democrats
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2hon MSN
Texas House committee advances new congressional map hours after Democrats' return to Austin
State Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican, introduced the new map and was open about how the changes are meant to “increase Republican performance.”
The Texas House gaveled in at noon with Democratic members present, marking an official end to the quorum break.
Texas House Democrats who fled their state to stall a Republican redistricting effort returned on Monday, ending their 15-day holdout.
Texas House Democrats return to Austin to challenge GOP redistricting maps and prepare legal action to defend minority communities' representation.
Democratic leaders say they will return for a second special legislative session after seeing California Democratic leaders proceed with plans to redraw their own U.S. House maps to neutralize Republican gains in Texas.
Chairman Abraham George recently traveled to Illinois to join Republicans there in denouncing Texas Democrats.
Texas Democrats ended a two-week walkout that stalled efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps.
The chairman of the state Democratic Party said the lawmakers “are coming back to fight these racist maps in the legislature and then in the courts.”
Lawmakers in Texas are pushing to vote on new election maps that could give the Republican Party five more seats in the U.S. House. The GOP argues the maps are fair, while Democrats walked out of the Capitol.