
On July 31, Texas Republicans revealed new congressional maps that could eliminate five Democratic US House seats.
Texas Republicans did this at the request of President Trump.
In return, Texas Democrats took drastic measures, leaving the state this week to deny Republicans a quorum during the special session that’s scheduled to last two weeks. But it will likely last much longer—technically Gov. Greg Abbott can keep calling special sessions until December’s filing deadline. The Texas Democrats who walked out face fines of $500 a day and are being threatened with arrest.
So how can we help? While Texas Democrats must pay fines with personal funds, we can support the re-election campaigns of the women who walked out and the US House candidates whose seats are threatened under the new maps:
- TX Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who has been outspoken on the new maps’ elimination of majority-Latino districts;
- TX Rep. Mihaela Plesa, who met with NY Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday to encourage blue states to retaliate;
- TX Rep. Erin Zwiener, whose state legislative district is within a minority opportunity congressional district slated for elimination;
- US Rep. Jasmine Crockett, whose metro Dallas district is slated to be combined with another Democratic district, meaning she could face a primary;
- US Rep. Julie Johnson, whose suburban Dallas district will flip Republican under the new maps.
This tactic is likely to spread to other Republican-controlled states including Florida, Indiana, New Hampshire and Ohio. We will keep you updated.