Ken Paxton describes plan to penalize Democrats who fled Texas to dodge redistricting vote

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday on Fox Business’ “The Bottom Line” that Democrats fleeing the state to avoid a vote on redistricting will face consequences either from the state House or from the state’s Supreme Court.

Reports of Democrats fleeing Texas for blue states like Illinois in hopes of blocking a vote on the proposed redistricting map broke on Sunday evening. Paxton said he favors arresting Democrat lawmakers who fled. He was asked how he would handle each individual lawmaker.

“So the Speaker sets the consequences. So he can find them. He can have other consequences inside of the House, as far as committee assignments and what they end up getting to do inside the House. That typically does not happen. This has happened in Texas history when I was in the House,” Paxton said.

“Typically, what we’ve done is we have the governors, the Republican governors, have just kept calling special sessions because, ultimately, these people don’t want to typically live in the state they’ve gone to. And they ultimately come back, and they’re forced to vote. So that’s been typical,” Paxton added. “We’re looking at other options. If we can’t arrest them, we want to have the opportunity to potentially take them out of office, at least force them back in for a court hearing.”

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In response to the 51 Democrats leaving for Illinois, Paxton took to X on Sunday, saying he supports the “immediate arrest of these rogue lawmakers who’ve fled their duties.”

“These radical Democrats are spitting in the face of every Texan they swore to represent. This is cowardice and dereliction of duty, and they should face the full force of the law without apology,” Paxton wrote.

By Monday, the Texas House passed a motion to issue arrest warrants for the lawmakers who fled following their failure to appear in the chamber to vote on redistricting the state’s congressional maps.

The Fox Business guest host said the court hearings “are really crucial” due to taking place in “certain districts that are not favorable to the governor’s cause of redistricting.” While there was potential for an outcome unfavorable to Republicans, Paxton addressed how he saw the rulings playing out.

“That’s true. I mean, we will be in Democratic districts. However, this is a state issue. So, ultimately, this case will likely go to the Texas Supreme Court, which isn’t necessarily unfavorable,” Paxton said.

“They’re a strong Republican body that tends to follow the Constitution and follows the law,” Paxton said. “So I’m confident that when they get this case, they’ll make an appropriate and good ruling.”

According to the Texas Tribune, the motion passed by the state’s House will not have the absent Democrat members face civil or criminal charges, as the warrant only applies within Texas state lines.

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