AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court has rejected the removal of state Democratic lawmakers who broke quorum over redistricting.
What they're saying:
The court refused to declare that the lawmakers who broke quorum and fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional maps had vacated their offices.
In denying the request from Governor Greg Abbott, the court opinion written by Justice James Blacklock said that the Republican-majority Legislature had adequately resolved the problem itself through measures such as fines against the missing lawmakers, and it noted they eventually returned on their own within a few weeks.
"In the end, a quorum was restored in two weeks’ time, without judicial intervention, by the interplay of political and practical forces," Blacklock wrote.
"Courts have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves," the opinion said.
The backstory:
In August 2025, Gov. Abbott filed a lawsuit to remove Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston), the Texas Democrat Caucus Chair, from office.
Abbott filed the emergency petition to the Texas Supreme Court of Texas for Wu's removal, citing his promise to attempt to do so for Democrats who left the state to prevent redistricting efforts.
The lawsuit claimed that Wu's actions as the state House's party leader, along with other Democrats who broke quorum, were an abandonment of their office. According to the governor, this justified their permanent removal from their positions.
Abbott also mentioned the Democrats' alleged acceptance of money from constituents and donors to skip the vote, saying accepting bribery for abandonment of office was grounds for vacating their seats.
Big picture view:
The redistricting efforts in Texas began an effort by both parties across the country to redraw voting and congressional maps ahead of the November midterm elections.
In December 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States decided to allow Texas to use its newly redrawn congressional map for the 2026 election.
California and other states subsequently began redrawing their own maps.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the scope of a key Voting Rights Act provision that restricts how states draw districts affecting minority voters, constraining states' use of race as a factor when drawing congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.
This recent decision sparked more states to begin redrawing districts.
The Source: Information from Associated Press and previous reporting.