Why Texas Democrats fled the state, in their own words
The Washington Post collected Texas Democrats’ own explanations for breaking quorum — Wu called the GOP map “racist” and said Abbott was acting “in submission to Donald Trump.”
As Democrats left Texas en masse to deny Republicans a quorum, the Washington Post gathered lawmakers’ own explanations for the walkout. Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader, cast the mid-decade redraw as a naked power grab.
He argued the GOP was wielding “a racist, gerrymandered map … that seeks to use racial lines to divide hardworking communities who have spent decades building up their power” — and that Gov. Abbott was doing it “in submission to Donald Trump.”
We come here today with absolute moral clarity that this is absolutely the right thing to do to protect the people of the state of Texas. — Rep. Gene Wu
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