Rep. Linda Garcia (D-Mesquite) is one of nearly 60 Texas House members that left the state on Aug. 3 to stop Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session, and in turn, a Republican plan to flip five US House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“ It was an easy decision in the sense that we knew we had to fight for democracy and what our constituents put us in place to do, so we knew that we had to leave,” Garcia told COURIER Texas.
Texas State Rep. Jolanda Jones joined fellow Texas Democrats in leaving the state on Sunday to break quorum and block the GOP’s redistricting blitz.
Several Texas Democrats—including US Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas), Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), Greg Casar (D-Austin), and Al Green (D-Houston)—made their way to Austin earlier this month to testify against redistricting plans.
Collin Allred and US Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) joined hundreds of Democrats in Fort Worth on Wednesday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and protest a plan from President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to flip five US House seats.
