Democratic lawmakers in Texas thwarted a Republican effort to unilaterally redraw voting districts by walking out and denying the GOP the quorum needed to pass the measure. The plan would have dismantled five Democratic districts and replaced them with Republican-majority districts. This is how Trump plans to rig the midterm elections and keep his razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
The Texas House of Representatives was rendered inquorate after Democrats left the state, thereby blocking the Republicans from legalizing electoral fraud. In response, Republican leaders issued arrest warrants against the fleeing Democrats, seeking to physically force them back to the chamber in order to pass the fraudulent bill.
Texas law requires redistricting every ten years. The current cycle, based on the 2020 Census, is only halfway through. Redrawing the districts now is unlawful and arbitrary. Republicans are abusing their majority to dismantle Democratic-leaning districts and absorb them into Republican-majority ones. The goal is to eliminate Democratic representation and manipulate the House map so Trump can maintain control even if he loses nationally.
At Trump’s urging, other Republican-controlled states are preparing to follow the Texas model. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was among the first to announce such plans, followed by Ohio and others. Republicans currently hold only a three-seat majority in the House; if Democrats regain the majority, they could vote to limit Trump’s power.
Assuming, of course, that Trump would obey the will of a Democratic House, a questionable premise. That’s why Republicans are doing everything in their power to deprive citizens of free elections. The midterms are meant to evaluate Trump’s government, and the House of Representatives should serve as a check on executive overreach. But Trump’s allies are trying to block that from happening.
America is in a life-or-death struggle to preserve democracy. What’s unfolding in Texas is a tragicomedy with potentially grave consequences. The Democratic lawmakers fled the state precisely to prevent the Republican bulldozer from having the quorum it needs to steamroll voting rights.
The arrest warrants are only valid within Texas, so the Democrats fled to northern, Democrat-led states. Since they committed no crime, they cannot be arrested outside Texas. But Governor Abbott is preparing false charges: the Democrats will be pursued on suspicion of „bribery.”
This made-up accusation could allow Republican authorities to arrest the Democrats in other states and drag them back to Texas to establish a quorum, then force a vote on the GOP’s terms. The “bribery” charge is based on the idea that if they received any financial assistance to escape, it constitutes a crime.
Democratic states where the lawmakers are now residing are working to reject extradition based on the bogus allegations. The Texas House must finalize redistricting by December 31 in order to hold next year’s midterm elections under the new map.
Governor Abbott has also threatened to strip the fleeing lawmakers of their seats and replace them with others to reestablish quorum. In what was once considered the world’s leading democracy, this will standard practice under Trump. They’ll get it done by any means necessary.
But the story doesn’t end there. In response, several Democrat-controlled states – California, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, and New York – have announced that they, too, will redraw their district maps to eliminate Republican-majority districts. They’ve called on Texas to stand down, refusing to remain silent in the face of democratic erosion.
This could spark a race to see who can seize more districts. But it’s an unequal race. Trump and his allies violate laws with impunity. He tried to rig the 2020 election and escaped prosecution only because he was elected president again. The Supreme Court has now granted him absolute immunity.
It is pure authoritarianism to issue arrest warrants for members of the minority party simply to force their attendance in the legislature. Police will escort them into the Texas House, quorum will be declared based on their presence, and the vote to legalize electoral fraud will proceed.
By comparison, it barely made headlines that Trump’s Attorney General has opened an investigation against former President Obama over the probe into Russian interference. These are fabricated charges, setting the stage for politically motivated show trials. Trump wants Obama jailed because he’s the strongest Democrat, and, let’s face it, because he’s Black.
Trump was among those who spread the racist conspiracy theory that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. to prevent a Black man from becoming president. If he succeeds in imprisoning Obama on fake charges, it sends a message: this is what „Black people are criminals”. While Obama committed no crimes, Trump has already been convicted, and would be facing four more trials if he hadn’t been reelected.
This is where America stands in 2025. Those who defended democracy and upheld the rule of law are now the targets of a vengeance campaign led by a man who escaped justice. Elections are being stolen, and political opponents are being dragged in handcuffs into the chamber to legitimize the fraud with their physical presence.
Perhaps a police officer will soon be the one to raise their handcuffed arms, so they can vote.
