CHICAGO – As a political chess match wages on against Texas lawmakers and an attempt to block a vote on a “rigged” congressional redistricting map, officials with the Democratic National Convention are joining the effort.
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DNC Chair Ken Martin was in Illinois along with other representatives from Texas to demonstrate solidarity among fellow democrats.
“I’ve been saying to these Texas Republicans, if you want a showdown, well, you’re going to get a showdown, and here it is right now here in Illinois,” Martin said during the press conference. “Unlike Texas Republicans, who held just one hearing, one hearing on flood response, but eight hearings on rigging maps, Texas Democrats are doing their damn jobs.
“They’re standing up for the Constitution, they’re standing for the democracy, they’re for the voices of their constituents,” he continued. “There is nothing more American than calling out corruption."
This all comes after Texas Democrats on Monday prevented the state’s House of Representatives from moving forward, at least for now, with a redrawn congressional map sought by President Donald Trump to shore up Republicans’ 2026 midterm prospects as his political standing falters.
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After dozens of Democrats left the state, the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made threats about removing members who are absent from their seats. Democrats counter that Abbott is using “smoke and mirrors” to assert legal authority he doesn’t have.
"It’s clear that Republicans would rather play politics with our elections than support flood victims,“ Martin added. ”They’d rather cheat than try to campaign on their failing record, a failing record which, by the way, includes voting for Trump’s budget bill, which rips away health care for up to 1.7 million Texans. Republicans are running scared that voting for this monstrosity will make them lose majority, and it certainly will."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.