House Democrats announce they will conditionally return for second special session

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The quorum break may be over this weekend, just under two weeks after it began. House Democrats have announced that they will return under the conditions that the first special session adjourns, and that California introduces new congressional maps of its own.

The first special session is expected to adjourn on Friday, after House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would sine die, or end, the session if a quorum was not reached by then.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a media conference on Thursday to announce California’s “Election Rigging Response Act,” expected to be a ballot measure for voters to approve new congressional maps for the state in November. Those maps could lead to pickups for Democrats, intended to counter the possible five seat gain for Republicans if the Texas Legislature can successfully pass new congressional maps.

Democrats say their return comes as they have successfully achieved their goal of raising national awareness about the Texas Republican plan to redraw maps.

“Texas House Democrats broke quorum and successfully mobilized the nation against Trump’s assault on minority voting rights,” said House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston.

Texas seems to have unleashed a national redistricting war, with many states, both red and blue, now looking to redraw maps mid-decade to their party’s advantage. So far, Texas and California seem to be committed to attempting redraws, and Ohio is legally required to.

The Democrats’ return to Texas means Texas Republicans will almost certainly have the votes to pass the maps. What happens next will now be up to voters in California.

A poll conducted from July 28 through Aug. 12 found that California voters support the state’s independent redistricting commission, a nonpartisan body that draws the congressional maps. Nearly two-thirds of California voters said they support keeping the commission, including a majority of Republicans and Democrats.

But early indications say California’s proposal would not do away with the commission; it would simply give the legislature the authority to redraw congressional maps one time mid-decade, which is currently not allowed. If voters do approve the proposal, the two states with the most members of Congress will have redrawn maps mid-decade for a partisan advantage, the first time in recent history that has happened.

“Gavin Newsom’s threats are hollow,” Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said. “California has one of the most gerrymandered maps in America – only 9 of 52 congressional seats are Republican, even though nearly 40% of California voters chose President Trump. This is nothing more than political posturing for his 2028 pipe dream.”

‘Let’s keep going to infinity’: A difficult choice to return

Wu said lots of members were enthused by the idea of staying outside of the state for as long as it took to kill the Texas redistricting proposal.

“We have member who are like, ‘let’s keep going to infinity,” Wu said. “Everyone’s really, really pumped up about what’s going on right now. Because for the first time, I think Democrats are going to get a win, our first win in a long time.”

However, Wu acknowledged the human toll of leaving your entire life behind with no end in sight.

“We came out of a bruising regular session and people are tired. People are exhausted,” Wu said. “Staff has been running, doing like 16-18 hour days for two to three months now. You know, we’re human beings, we have a limit.”

“I’m having a hard time as well when we talk about — y’know, do you come back?” State Rep. Josey Garcia, D-San Antonio said. While Garcia, a combat veteran, is used to spending time away from home, she acknowledges the difficulty of keeping 51 members away from home for so long.

“A lot of us have families. I have eight children. My husband and I are both disabled veterans. We have a very modest income. However, I’m still blessed, because I have a flexible income, meaning that that that modest income will always be there,” Garcia said. “I have the flexibility to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to stay out for another 30 days,’ right? But that’s not true for all of our colleagues, and if we don’t have the 51-plus to be able to do that, then it’s not even worth the effort.”