Fighting for democracy, Texas Democrats push Texas Republicans to surrender without achieving their goals

In response to Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans preparing to adjourn the Texas legislative special session on Friday sine die without passing their rigged maps, DNC Chair Ken Martin issued the following statement: 

“After enduring bomb threats and attempts at arrest and expulsion, Texas Democrats have held firm and blocked Trump’s efforts to rig the Texas maps this session. 

“Governor Abbott could have brought flood relief to victims in Kerr County. Instead, he chose to follow Trump’s orders to protect Republicans from accountability after they voted to take away health care and food from millions of Americans. It’s time for Abbott to stop playing political games, call a special session focused on flood relief, and abandon this craven power grab. He can finally work on behalf of Texas voters instead of trying to disenfranchise them. And he can reaffirm the basic premise that Texans choose their elected officials — not Donald Trump. 

“Democrats are not backing down.”

The DNC supported Texas House Democrats every step of the way during this fight, by:

• Launching our ongoing campaign against Trump and Republicans’ gerrymandering scheme in Texas, sending over 250,000 texts to voters in Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth, encouraging them to speak out against voter disenfranchisement at field hearings happening in each city. 
• Marshaling 30,000 volunteers to reach persuadable Republican voters in key Texas House districts to let them know that House Republicans are playing games with their votes instead of focusing on relief for flood victims.
• Activating Texas content creators to attend and cover the redistricting field hearings.
• Mobilizing Texans across the state to share their stories by submitting virtual public comments to tell the country how this gerrymandering scheme will affect them.
• Sending Chair Martin to meet with Texas House Dems before the special session began, and during the quorum break.
• Convening a national partner meeting to brief dozens of allied organizations on where this fight stands and how to support the Texas House Dems, the DCCC, the Texas Democratic Party, and the NDRC in this fight.
• Helping to organize a “Fight the Trump Takeover” day of action in 50 locations across 20 states this Saturday.

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