Texas Democrats set plan to end nearly 2-week walkout over Republicans’ redraw of US House maps

CHICAGO AP Texas Democrats on Thursday moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP s redrawing of U S House maps before the poll and put them under escalating threats by Republicans back home The Democrats revealed they will return provided that Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal both of which were expected to happen Friday Democrats did not say what day they might return Republican Texas Gov Greg Abbott still intends to push through new maps that would give the GOP five more winnable seats before next year s midterm elections House Speaker Dustin Burrows has explained that if Democrats don t return the next time lawmakers reconvene on Friday the session will end and the governor will instantly begin another one Abbott put redistricting on the agenda at the urging of President Donald Trump who wants to shore up Republicans narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of his first presidency when the midterms restored Democrats to a House majority that blocked his agenda and twice impeached him It is distinctive for redistricting to take place in the middle of the decade and typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the census Texas House Democrats declared in a announcement that attorneys have explained them they must return to the state to build a strong community legislative record for an upcoming legal battle against a new map Now as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose we re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts stated state Rep Gene Wu the House Democratic leader At the same time the Texas Democrats want to wait until California Democrats file their bill to redraw the state s maps he added We want to make sure the baton is fully in their hands before we let go Wu announced Texas Democrats who are the minority in each chamber fled to Illinois New York and Massachusetts on Aug to stop the Legislature from passing any bills Abbott has solicited the state s highest court to remove Wu from office and other Republican leaders have threatened their arrest U S Sen John Cornyn revealed he sought the FBI to assist Texas bureaucrats in locating the lawmakers and Attorney General Ken Paxton has demanded members to be removed from office Lawmakers face fees of up to each day they are absent after the House adopted new rules in after a similar walkout over voting restriction act Texas has congressional districts of which Republicans hold In California Democrats control of the state s House seats Lathan communicated from Austin Texas