Texas Democrats’ Walkouts Haven’t Worked in Decades. Why Are They Trying Again?

There is a lot of bluffing and braggadocio happening among both Democrats and Republicans right now about the attempt of Democratic state lawmakers to stall the passage of Trump’s mid-decade gerrymandering scheme. Most of it is safe to ignore. A quorum break has power because it sits outside the normal rules of Texas politics. But it is invoked often enough—this is the fourth quorum break in a half century, the latest of which came in 2021—that it has its own rules and traditions, one of which is to engage in loud brinkmanship.The Democrats who fled are talking a big game in the press and on social media, one that doesn’t reflect the private thinking of House members. Their news releases argue that this is a…

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