With all this fuss and commotion about redistricting, do you all remember when Texas Democrats literally ran away to Illinois — and other states — to keep Republicans from having a quorum and thwart the vote on Texas redistricting?
In the summer of 2025, more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers packed their bags and fled the Lone Star State rather than allow a special legislative session to redraw congressional district maps.
The Republican-led effort, supported by Governor Greg Abbott and former President Trump, aimed to capitalize on Texas’s political landscape by potentially flipping up to five additional GOP seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democrats called it an unprecedented power grab and mid-decade gerrymander; Republicans called the walkout a childish abandonment of duty, especially as the state dealt with real crises like flooding recovery. The dramatic quorum-busting tactic delayed proceedings for nearly two weeks before Democrats eventually returned, reigniting long-standing debates about when redistricting should happen and who should control the map-drawing pen. This episode became yet another colorful chapter in America’s never-ending redistricting wars, where both parties have shown they will go to great lengths — fleeing the state or aggressively redrawing lines — when they hold the advantage.
