The political battle in Texas just took a sharp turn. On Friday, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit aimed at removing 13 Democratic state representatives from office. Why? Because they have refused to return to the House floor and vote on a controversial redistricting plan.
This lawsuit comes after Governor Greg Abbott asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove the seat of House Democratic leader Gene Wu. But Paxton’s action goes further, targeting lawmakers he says have been openly defying the process.
“This is my job to make this argument to the court,” Paxton said. “No one else’s.”
“These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process and violated the oath they swore to uphold,” Paxton said, according to CBS News. “Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on.”
But one of the lawmakers named, Rep. Chris Turner of Arlington, pushed back hard. He called the lawsuit “just more bluster and rhetoric from Abbott, Paxton, et cetera.”
“This wasn’t a surprise. Paxton telegraphed he was going to do something like this earlier in the week. I think that whatever he’s filed in the Supreme Court today, which I haven’t even had a chance to read yet, I think it’s without merit,” Turner said.
He explained that he and his Democratic colleagues are “fulfilling our legislative duties by exercising our right to break quorum and stop consideration of this discriminatory redistricting map. We are standing up for our constituents and fulfilling our oath of office — something that Ken Paxton knows very little about.”
Republicans, following a directive from President Donald Trump, aim to redraw the electoral map and gain five more seats to secure the House majority in Washington.
The legal fight isn’t just targeting lawmakers. Paxton’s office also filed a separate suit in Tarrant County against former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and his group, Powered by People. The lawsuit seeks to block the group from fundraising to support the absent Democrats.
This political showdown shows just how high tensions have risen over redistricting in Texas. Paxton and Abbott want the process to move forward, but Democrats remain determined to block what they see as unfair maps — even at the risk of losing their seats.
