Texas Democrats have led to the last consequence the protest against the electoral reform of the Republicans. Half a hundred opposition congressmen have gone to other Democratic states to avoid the vote of a new map of the Texan electoral districts that would facilitate Donald Trump to maintain the majority in Congress for the 2026 elections.
The republican anger before the blockade has not been expected and this Monday the Texan congressmen in the Chamber have voted in favor of issuing civil arrest orders against their political rivals; The Governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, has threatened to expel Democrats from their seats; And state attorney general Ken Paxton, Republican too, has put them on the table.
Abbott has also raised the possibility of demanding their extradition of the states that have welcomed them under the pretext that they are “criminals” for having gone and avoid their duties. “We are not fleeing our responsibilities,” we have left a cheater system that refuses to listen to the voters we represent, “said the president of the Democratic Group in the Texan Assembly, Gene Wu.
Leaving the State is no drama, but the only safe option to prevent vote. Texas legislation establishes that in order to approve the reform in the state assembly there must be at least two thirds of the local deputies present during the session. Of the 150 congressmen, there must be at least 100. But on Sunday night 51 Democrats left by bus, car and plane to Democratic majority states to sabotage the proposal. If they had stayed in Texas, they ran the risk of the police forcing them to go to the State Capitol, as provided by the laws.
The Democrats Plan is to take refuge for two weeks in friends like Illinois and New York, which have been the main receptors. When the special legislative session convened to vote the restructuring of the electoral districts will come that period. The Democratic governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, has appeared with the fled legislators who denounced the republican reform of being an unfair and authoritarian attempt to crush the will of the voters.
The reform proposed by the Republicans, and which has the active support of Trump, would involve a drastic change in the demarcation of Texas's electoral districts. Five constituencies that are now under democratic control would become red due to the formation of a strong republican majority. The redistribution of the map would result in the fact that the party that governs would have guaranteed five more seats in the medium mandate elections.
In November next year it is time to renew all the seats of the House of Representatives (435) and one third (35) of those of the Senate. Republicans control the lower house by just five deputies, and in the Upper House they are 53 compared to 47. Democrats aspire to recover control of the representatives's chamber and end the triumph of which Trump enjoys. With one of the two chambers outside the president's influence, the Democrats would have options to stop many of their actions.
The reform of the Texas electoral map is due to the fact that the Constitution forces to review the demarcations each time a new census is completed, once every ten years, to ensure that the districts faithfully represent the population. The problem is that this review has given rise to a frequent practice by both games: redesign the districts to ensure victory.
Given the possibility of the new electoral distribution in Texas, the Democrats have assured that they will also take similar measures in other states to compensate for the difference.
