You Vote: With Dems having left Texas to avoid redistricting, and arrest warrants issued, what now?

The move comes as part of a special redistricting session in which Republicans hope to present a new congressional map that will add a number of Republican-leaning districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Published: August 4, 2025 6:13pm

Texas legislators have approved arrest warrants for Democratic legislators who fled the state in a bid to deny the legislature a quorum and thereby block a redistricting effort.

The vote was 85-6 and empowered the sergeant at arms to send for absent lawmakers "under warrant of arrest, if necessary." The move comes as part of a special redistricting session in which Republicans hope to present a new congressional map that will add a number of Republican-leaning districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Whether the sergeant at arms will successfully secure enough Democrats to reach a quorum and allow for the bill's passage remains to be seen.

With Dems having left Texas to avoid redistricting, and arrest warrants issued, what now?

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