Democratic colleagues across the country support lawmakers who fled Texas

After fleeing Texas to stop a vote on a proposed new congressional map for the state, a group of Texas state Democratic lawmakers were joined by the DNC chair and the governor of Illinois for a news conference on Tuesday.

The proposed redrawing of Texas’ congressional map would add five Republican seats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

CNN reported that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker shared that it is possible to redistrict in favor of Democrats in Illinois but added that “it’s not something that I want to do.” These comments came as Democratic Party leaders across the country are being called on to respond to the GOP redistricting proposal in Texas.

During the news conference in Chicago, the Republican plan to redraw congressional lines was also criticized by Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin.

“They’ve decided to cheat, and we’re going to respond in kind,” Martin said, per CNN.

“This is not the Democratic Party of your grandfather, which would bring a pencil to the knife fight,” Martin added. “This is a new Democratic Party; we are bringing a knife to a knife fight, and we are going to fight fire with fire.”

Democratic Texas state Rep. Lulu Flores made it clear that she and other members of the Texas delegation who traveled to Illinois “plan to stay as long as it takes” as they work to stall the Republican redistricting push in their home state.

“You just heard that the special session lasts til Aug. 19. That’s the very least time that we expect to be out here,” Flores said in an interview on CNN.

Flores also hopes efforts by Democratic governors in other states such as New York, Illinois and California to pursue their own redistricting plans in response to the proposed map in Texas would dissuade Republican efforts.

“We are taking it a day at a time, a session at a time. We will wait to see what the governor decides to do,” Flores said, adding that the governor can call subsequent special sessions.

California proposes redistricting to add 5 Democratic House seats

If Texas Republicans are successful in redistricting, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is prepared to move forward with a proposal to redraw his state’s congressional map. This proposal would potentially add five Democratic seats to the U.S. House.

“The proposal that we’re advancing with the legislature has a trigger only if they move forward, to dismantling the protocols that are well-established,” Newsom said on Monday, per Fox News. “Would the state of California move forward in kind? Fighting? Yes, fire with fire.”

To go forward with this plan, Newsom would hold a special election to get voter approval in order to undo the constitutional amendments that created California’s nonpartisan redistricting commission.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the state’s nonpartisan redistricting system, is against Newsom’s plan to add Democratic seats in California.

“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people,” Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell said, per Fox News.

Arrest warrants put out for absent Texas lawmakers

Republicans in Texas have voted to approve arrest warrants for the dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the state on Sunday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers “to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans,” per BBC.

The vote gives the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms and state troopers the authority to arrest the absent legislators and deliver them to the state Capitol building. But, since the warrants are only enforceable inside Texas state lines, the vote on Monday was mostly symbolic.

The lawmakers would not face civil or criminal charges as a result of the warrant.

Democratic Texas state Rep. Ramón Romero said he is willing to be arrested, as he believes that he and the other lawmakers who fled the state are “standing tall,” per CNN.

“I’ll pay that price for America,” he said in the Chicago news conference. “That would be a very small price to pay for what we would save for these Americans that have fought so hard and against the maps that aim directly at Black and brown voices.”

Each day that the lawmakers fail to show up, they face a $500 fine. Abbott has threatened to charge the absent legislators with bribery if they are given public money to cover that fine.

“It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature,” Abbott said, according to BBC. “And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act. That would be bribery.”

Texas House to try and reconvene again on Tuesday

After failing to reach a quorum and quickly adjourning on Monday, the Texas House of Representatives will reconvene on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, according to CNN.

For the state House to conduct legislative business, the Texas Constitution requires two-thirds of House members to be present. So, with dozens of Democrats absent, the new map could not be voted on.

The Texas lawmakers are currently meeting in a special session that can’t go over 30 days, this current session will end Aug. 19, per CNN.

Trump says Republicans are ‘entitled’ to 5 more seats in Texas

On Tuesday during CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” President Donald Trump said he supports the redistricting proposal in Texas, adding that Republicans are “entitled to five more seats” in the state.

“We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats,” Trump said.

He defended gerrymandering in Texas with the claim “they did it to us,” as he pointed to Democratic states.