Texas Democratic lawmakers end walkout, setting stage for vote on redrawn map

By Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in Texas returned to the state on Monday, ending a two-week walkout that broke quorum and temporarily blocked Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu, chairperson of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that Democrats returned because they had achieved their two main goals.

The first was to block a vote on new congressional maps in a first special legislative session that ended Friday. The second goal was to prompt California and other Democratic-led states to consider redrawing their own maps to offset any seats Republicans might gain in Texas.

"Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country," Wu said.

Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, a Republican, gaveled in the session at noon local time on Monday, with enough Democrats present to have a quorum.

"We are done waiting. We have a quorum. Now is the time for action," Burrows said on opening the session, which ended quickly and with word that the House would go into recess until Wednesday morning.

Burrows said that the Democrats who had left the state but who were present on Monday would only be allowed to leave the House chambers if they agreed to be released into the custody of an agent from the Texas Department of Public Safety, who would ensure they are present at House sessions going forward.

Several Democrats bristled at the escorts, which they called a political stunt that was wasting public money.

State Representative Nicole Collier, a seven-term Democrat from Fort Worth, refused to agree to an escort and prepared to spend the night in the Capitol.

"I disagree with that authoritarian tactic," Collier told Reuters from the Capitol in a remote interview. "We don't have a lot of victories, but we do have our principles. We still have our dignity and we still have the right to protest and resist."

More than 50 Texas House Democrats left the state on August 3 and most headed to Illinois, aiming to deny Republicans enough lawmakers in attendance to hold a vote on redistricting legislation - a tactic used several times in the past, mostly without success.

Republican leaders in Texas issued civil arrest warrants for the Democrats, which could only be acted on within the borders of the state, and sought their extradition from Illinois, which a judge in that state rejected.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special legislation session in another attempt to rework the state's congressional maps in an effort to give Republicans another five seats in Congress.

With Republicans dominating the Texas House and Senate, quick passage of the new maps is almost certain. Abbott didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democrats' return.

Trump believes redistricting would help maintain Republicans' slim control of Congress in midterm elections next year. But Democrats are threatening retaliation, launching what could build into an all-out national redistricting war across several states.

Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic Governor, on Thursday unveiled his own redistricting plan that he said would give Democrats there five more congressional seats.

A legislative package was introduced on Monday in California's legislature that would allow California voters to approve new maps.

The California proposal would allow voters in November to adopt a new, temporary congressional map aimed at neutralizing any similar Republican efforts not just in Texas but in Florida, Indiana, or any other Republican-led states that redraw their maps.