Texas Democrats Flee State To Block Election Integrity Bill, Will Face Arrest Upon Return

On Monday, Democrat lawmakers in Texas fled the Lone Star State to Washington, D.C. in a dramatic effort to both block key legislation from passing the Texas State Legislature and apply further pressure on Biden and the Democrats in Congress to abolish the filibuster and pass H.R. 1/S. 1. A total of 58 Democrats took place in the illegal endeavor. All of the retreating Democrat legislators flew mask less on private airplanes.

With just nine Democrats missing from the Texas Senate, the Texas Senate was still able to pass S.B. 1 on Tuesday by an 18-4 vote along party lines. However, since a whopping 49 Democrats are absent from the Texas House of Representatives, the House lacks a quorum, meaning they are unable to take action on any bills.

The Texas State Legislature is currently in a special session, which began on July 8 at the directive of Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott called the special session in order to pass S.B. 1, a key election reform bill that would enact uniform statewide voting hours, require voter I.D. to submit all mail-in ballot applications and ballots, verifies the citizenship of each voter on the voter rolls, prohibits drive-thru voting, forbids the mailing of unsolicited mail-in ballots, expands access to educational election materials, and requires poll watchers to be able to monitor the entire election process, including the counting of votes. Abbott has also allowed for action to be taken on the following topics during the special session: bail reform, border security, big tech censorship, anti-violence education in Texas schools, the banning of critical race theory in Texas schools, a ban on the delivery of abortion-inducing drugs through the mail, banning students from playing in NCAA sports designated for the gender opposite of their gender at birth, and appropriations.

The AWOL Democrats intend to hold out in Washington, D.C. until Texas’s special session ends on August 31. However, Governor Abbott has promised to call “special session after special session after special session all the way up until the election next year” to pass S.B. 1 after declaring election integrity an “emergency item” following the cataclysmic 2020 election.

In the meantime, the fugitive Texas Democrats have been met with open arms by Democrats in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, Kamala Harris hosted a closed meeting with the Texas Democrat lawmakers. A separate meeting was also held between the Texas Democrat legislators and Chuck Schumer.

As a result, the Texas House of Representatives voted Tuesday to allow Texas State Troopers to arrest the fleeing Democrats. However, since Texas State Troopers only have jurisdiction in Texas, the lawmakers cannot be arrested until they return to the state. Upon their impending arrest, they will be guided to the Texas State Capitol, where a vote will presumably finally be held on S.B. 1 and other key issues mentioned above.

Texas Democrats are not just abandoning their posts as elected officials; they are abandoning the people of Texas. Their abhorrent performance is a childish attempt to stop the inevitable fortification of Texas’s elections via the passing of S.B. 1. Since Democrats are willing to abandon their own constituents for the sake of blocking a bill that protects their constituents, this begs the question: who do they really represent?