Seven Texas House Democrats travel to meet with New Mexico’s governor

Editor’s Note: The above video is KXAN’s previous coverage of Texas Democrats’ media event with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on July 25, 2025.

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — After traveling to California and Illinois last Friday, a group of Texas House Democrats are headed to New Mexico to meet with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Their goal is to “continue the Caucus’ national effort to build a firewall against the corrupt, racially-motivated redistricting scheme being forced on Texans by Donald Trump via Greg Abbott,” according to a press release.

The travelling group consists of:

• Speaker pro Tempore Joe Moody, D-El Paso
• Redistricting Committee Vice Chair Jon Rosenthal, D-Cypress
• State Rep. John Bucy, D-Austin
• State Rep. Salman Bhojani, D-Euless
• State Rep. Erin Gámez, D-Brownsville
• State Rep. Josey Garcia, D-San Antonio
• State Rep. Christian Manuel, D-Nederland

“We’re traveling to meet with leaders who put people first in a crisis,” Moody said. “A recent flood in Ruidoso took three lives, and disaster relief there has been New Mexico’s top priority ever since. Meanwhile, weeks after devastating floods that killed 137 people — many of them children — families in the Hill Country are still waiting and watching as our state puts a divisive political power grab first.”

Efforts to redraw Texas’ U.S. Congressional map were first rumored in early June, escalating when Gov. Greg Abbott placed the topic on the 30-day special session call sheet.

Abbott said the redistricting requests come “in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice,” after the Department of Justice sent a letter to Texas accusing its current districts of being racially discriminatory. On Monday, the Texas Senate floated the idea of issuing a subpoena to the letter’s author, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.

Two weeks ago, President Trump said his goal is to flip five seats in Texas from Democratic to Republican.

If successful, Texas would have 30 Republican U.S. Representatives to eight Democratic U.S. Representatives — a 79-21% split. Republicans currently hold 66% of congressional seats while only gaining 58% of the total congressional votes in the 2024 election.

Those five seats could be crucial for the second half of Trump’s term, as he currently holds a slim 219-212 majority in the U.S. House, with four vacant seats (three caused by Democratic member deaths).

In 2018, the last midterm election with Trump in office, Democrats flipped 41 seats. They flipped two Texas seats in that election, with Republicans taking home only 50.4% of the statewide House votes (while still holding onto 64% of House seats).

These out-of-state trips have also come during a time when some caucus members have committed to fleeing the state to break quorum. If 51 of the 62 House Democrats fail to appear, the House would not reach the two-thirds threshold to conduct business. All 11 Senate Democrats could also fail to appear after former State Sen. Kelly Hancock resigned and lowered the Senate’s quorum threshold.

In a quorum break, Texas leaders are allowed to forcibly bring members to Austin to complete their duties, which is why Democrats would likely be looking for a temporary home in a favorable state.