In a bold move, some Texas Democratic state representatives have fled the state in order to block a vote on a congressional map that would redraw Texas voting districts to create five more areas likely to elect Republicans. Despite Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s threats of arrests and removal from office, all but two Democrats have remained in other states, specifically Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts, claiming that the redistricting vote is full of Republican gerrymandering.
To find out what can be done about the Texas Democrats’ refusal to return for the redistricting vote, Glenn Beck invited Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to “The Glenn Beck Program.”
“It’s pretty ironic that they’re going to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts – three of the most liberal states and some of the most gerrymandered states in the country,” says Paxton.
His preference would have been for Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) to “shut the doors” and force a vote. “Once the doors are locked, you can’t get out, and you spend the night there, and you vote,” Paxton tells Glenn.
But now that that ship has sailed, Texas is forced to choose from inferior options.
Option one is “arrest them,” but this poses complications as Texas is “not going to get help from jurisdictions like Illinois [or] Boston.”
“So arresting them is not a likely scenario until they come back,” says Paxton.
Option two, which Paxton says has proved successful in the past, is to “[wait] them out.”
“Ultimately, many of them have to come back. They have jobs, they have families. They’re not going to live in Illinois,” he says.
“So they come back, and we vote, and every time we’ve ultimately been successful.”
Option three is to employ something called quo warranto, which is a legal action used to challenge someone’s right to hold a public office or position.
“It might be a way to take existing members out of their positions if they fail to show up to perform their duties,” says Paxton.
“[If] you take them out of the positions … then there has to be a special election, so you can’t go right to vote, right?” asks Glenn.
Paxton confirms that this would likely delay voting, as the quorum – the minimum number of people needed to be present for a vote to take place – would change.
There’s a chance Gov. Abbott, however, could make special appointments to fill the vacant seats until a special election is arranged, says Paxton.
“It’s definitely not a fast process, although we’re trying to figure out a way to fast-track it,” he tells Glenn.
“Either way, in the end, we know how this is going to turn out because Governor Abbott is not going to back down, and he’ll just keep calling them back until they show up.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.
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