Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett is praising her fellow Democratic lawmakers for departing the state to thwart Republicans hell-bent on redistricting Texas’ congressional maps on Sunday (Aug. 3). At a MoveOn political advocacy event held in Phoenix, Arizona, Crockett spoke about how she was “so inspired” by the 51 lawmakers’ move to leave Texas for other states such as Illinois and New York.
“Right before I got over here, my former colleagues from the Texas House, those Texas Democrats, decided to get the hell out of Texas,” Crockett said at the event. “They decided to use whatever tools they could and breaking quorum is where they are at right now. And they didn’t just do it by themselves. They went to Illinois where there is a governor that gives a damn. You see, this fight is going to take all of us.”
The Republicans currently have a slim majority in the House of Representatives, and the Republicans in the 150-member state legislature of Texas unveiled a new map created at the behest of President Donald Trump last week, which would give the GOP five more seats in the House. The move is seen as a way to retain power as midterm elections approach next year – the new map means Crockett would not have a district to represent.
“I’m aggressive,” Crockett continued, detailing how necessary the move was in her eyes. “So for me, I don’t serve in the Senate but I would get rid of the filibuster if it means that we can [fight] for voting rights because we don’t get rights to healthcare. We don’t get rights to education. We don’t get any other rights if we don’t have the ability to access the ballot box. So those are the things that I would do. I would get aggressive on the Supreme Court and I would get aggressive about making sure that we equalize this thing so that we can all access the ballot box.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has threatened Democratic lawmakers that they have until 3 p.m. on Monday (Aug. 4) to return to the state, or he would attempt to remove them from office. The lawmakers also face a daily $500 fine and arrest, as state Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to “use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.” The Texas Democrats issued a statement, as reported by HuffPost Deputy Editor Philip Lewis, replying: “Come and take it.”
Jasmine Crockett Salutes “Aggressive” Texas Dems’ Strategy
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