Texas Supreme Court declines to boot House Dems who fled state during redistricting

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to remove Democratic members of the state legislature who left the state during the redistricting process from office.

Last year, several Democrats left the state in a bid to deny lawmakers a quorum for redistricting, though many returned, and the state ultimately passed a new slate of congressional maps. Under Gov. Greg Abbot, R-Texas, the state sought to remove those lawmakers over the matter.

"Today the Court declines to oust the quorum-breakers from office with this discretionary power," wrote Texas Supreme Court Justice James Sullivan. "I concur because this constitutional crisis passed too quickly for us to engage in factfinding that might’ve justified quo warranto relief."

He did, however, indicate that the court ought to be prepared to address the matter in the future in the event that Democrats engage in the quorum-breaking flight in another instance.

"But we should be prepared to perform this grave task if legislators refuse to do their jobs again in the future," he wrote.

The Texas redraw marked the first major conflict of the redistricting wars, which have seen nearly every southern state and several Democratic bastions attempt to alter their maps to favor their respective parties.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.