Texas GOP's New Congressional Map Would Create 5 New Seats!

[baddog]

1 hour ago, Reagan said:

Ken Paxton, and future Senator, has filed a historic lawsuit against Democrat runaways in SCOTX to secure an order declaring their seats vacant. These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process. Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on.

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I’ll bite….what happens to the vacated seats?

[OlDawg]

29 minutes ago, baddog said:

I’ll bite….what happens to the vacated seats?

IF (Big IF) seats are vacated, they remain vacated until the next General Election in this case because of timing in an even numbered year.

So, would still mean no quorum possible.

Personally, I don’t see them being vacated. They have the ability to do this in the Texas Constitution—like it or not—and SCOTX doesn’t like to get involved in the politics of this stuff.

They need to pass a House Rule designating a specific time of approved, physical non-attendance for future. Otherwise, the Dems can just say they were fulfilling their duties remotely.

[baddog]

6 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

IF (Big IF) seats are vacated, they remain vacated until the next General Election in this case because of timing in an even numbered year.

Personally, I don’t see them being vacated. They have the ability to do this in the Texas Constitution—like it or not—and SCOTX doesn’t like to get involved in the politics of this stuff.

They need to pass a House Rule designating a specific time of physical non-attendance for future. Otherwise, the Dems can just say they were fulfilling their duties remotely.

Thanks for the info. Your last sentence sounds like something the dems would try to claim, but with the national attention this has garnered, I think it would be difficult to make it convincing.  

[OlDawg]

2 minutes ago, baddog said:

Thanks for the info. Your last sentence sounds like something the dems would try to claim, but with the national attention this has garnered, I think it would be difficult to make it convincing.  

If they are vacated, no quorum could be reached. But, they would have to stay gone for about 3 months.

[baddog]

2 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

If they are vacated, no quorum could be reached.

I believe I read that two have already returned and that maybe a couple more was needed. I could be wrong. It’s happened before.

[OlDawg]

10 minutes ago, baddog said:

I believe I read that two have already returned and that maybe a couple more was needed. I could be wrong. It’s happened before.

They need 12 Democrats to reach a quorum. Reps have 88. That shows how little Texas is actually gerrymandered—regardless of the BS press.

There are 150 members in the Texas State House.
 

[OlDawg]

Judge Stops Beto from Funding Fleeing Dems

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[Reagan]

 

 

[OlDawg]

7 hours ago, Reagan said:

 

 

Yes. This is an interesting twist. While it’s perfectly legal for the Dems to quorum bust, if it’s found that an outside PAC/group (Beto and/or Soros are being discussed) influenced the walk out by promising to pay costs beforehand if the Dems walked out, it becomes a different legal matter.

[thetragichippy]

1 hour ago, OlDawg said:

Yes. This is an interesting twist. While it’s perfectly legal for the Dems to quorum bust, if it’s found that an outside PAC/group (Beto and/or Soros are being discussed) influenced the walk out by promising to pay costs beforehand if the Dems walked out, it becomes a different legal matter.

How is the $500/day for not showing up enforced? @tvc184, you know? 

I can't imagine they can all afford $500 per day

[baddog]

15 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

How is the $500/day for not showing up enforced? @tvc184, you know? 

I can't imagine they can all afford $500 per day

I have read where the direct deposits (they still must be paid) have been halted, and if the dems want to be paid, they have to come pick up their check. Good question on the fines.

[Reagan]

 

Looking good!

[Big girl]

On 8/5/2025 at 4:06 PM, thetragichippy said:

and by Texas rules he will get 5 seats. Democrats will return at some point......

All 38 Texas house seats are up for reelection in Nov 2026

If the people don't like what they have done, they will get voted out.

THAT is how it is designed to work......not running off like a bunch of children

The Democrats should just redistrict in Democratic states to add more seats.

[Reagan]

42 minutes ago, Big girl said:

The Democrats should just redistrict in Democratic states to add more seats.

That's the problem for the Dems.  They already have.  There's not much for them to do.  For example:  Massachusetts has "zero" Republican Reps.  Although Trump got 36% of the vote in Massachusetts.  They can't do anymore.  Now, the others may be able to do a little.  But the Red States have more of an upside because we are learning to play the game.  In the end, it's not going to look good for the Dems.  Taking away the illegals being counted in the census is gonna be the real killer!

[OlDawg]

25 minutes ago, Big girl said:

The Democrats should just redistrict in Democratic states to add more seats.

I think they’re working towards that. Issue is, their key states (Illinois, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, and even Nevada) are already gerrymandered to the Democratic side so much, they can’t get many more—if any—seats out of them.

From data I’ve read, Dems seem to gerrymander ‘bigger’, and Reps gerrymander more states but “smaller”—if that makes sense.

Ought to be illegal for both. But, I don’t see any way to stop it. Incumbents will want to keep their seats. Just like the reason for no term limits. It does make a joke of representative democracy. But, we really haven’t had that in a very long time anyway.

One way might be for a viable minor Party to really make inroads because of public dissatisfaction with the two major Parties. Harder to gerrymander for three.

But, that’s a real long shot.

[OlDawg]

7 hours ago, thetragichippy said:

How is the $500/day for not showing up enforced? @tvc184, you know? 

I can't imagine they can all afford $500 per day

House Rules of Procedure: Rule 5, Chapter A, Section 3

(Starts on Page 89)

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Sorry. Took some investigative digging. I still don’t really see a penalty for non-payment other than forfeiture of funds and payment of other fees before receiving any new funding/pay—which is nowhere near the fine amount that could be accrued.