The Texas House of Representatives concluded its first special session on Friday morning after failing to reach a quorum — the necessary attendance required — to vote on mid-decade redistricting.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled out the first session at 10:04 a.m. Central time, adjourning the House “sine die.” Only 95 members were present, and 100 members are needed for a quorum.
“Do not go very far, as I believe our governor will be calling us back for another special session very, very soon,” Burrows told the chamber just before closing out the first session, receiving applause.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) indicated this week he would call a second special session immediately after the first concluded. A source familiar with the Texas legislature said the House will reconvene at noon. Republicans expect a quorum to be reached in the second session, with a vote on new congressional maps expected as early as this weekend, per the source.
A majority of the state House’s 62 Democrats, who fled the state to stall the first session, announced Thursday that they plan to return home after nearly two weeks of being scattered across Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
The minority party said during a press conference on Thursday that they “successfully mobilized the nation” against Republicans’ plans to add as many as five new GOP congressional seats to Texas’s delegation.
“Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we’re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts,” Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu, the House minority leader, said.
The Texas Democrats’ redistricting fight has drawn support from several national leaders, including former President Barack Obama, who streamed into a meeting with the minority caucus on Thursday.
To offset any Republican seats added in Texas, California is preparing for a Nov. 4 special election to vote on a ballot measure that would allow the state to redraw its maps and circumvent the independent redistricting committee.
A commission, which several states use, makes it harder for California to engage in mid-decade redistricting compared to Texas, which does not have that barrier and instead approves maps through the legislature.
Abbott has said he will call for special sessions until the new maps, spearheaded by President Donald Trump and national Republicans, are passed. Democrats have claimed Republicans are doing mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections because the GOP is afraid it will lose the majority in the U.S. House.
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Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to take back the majority, and Republicans’ recent passing of the “big beautiful bill” put several of their centrist, swing-district members in the hot seat as they work to convince voters that the GOP should still have a trifecta.
Redistricting efforts in Texas and California are being criticized by lawmakers and strategists in both parties, who are concerned that it will turn into a never-ending war and could make Congress more partisan in the long run.