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A Texas Democrat said Monday the runaways will need $1.5 million to stay in D.C. until August 7 - while another member admitted it was a mistake to go maskless on private jets after five contracted COVID. Fundraising efforts ensued last week to help pay for the trip as the group insists no taxpayer money is being used for their stunt. State Representative Armando Walle told NBC News in a report published Monday that the cost of keeping the group of around 60 lawmakers in the nation's capital for the remainder of the special session would reach around $1.5 million.

Texas Democrats flee voting to save Voting on Private Plane to Washington D.C.

Special interest donors are covering much of the cost for Texas Democratic lawmakers to stay in pricey Washington, D.C., hotel rooms, but Texas taxpayers are still losing close to $500,000 on expenses for a legislative session that isn’t happening. Texas lawmakers who fled the legislative session in Austin for the nation’s capital ultimately will have to report all of the private money pouring in for the self-professed “fugitive” Democrats. That amount includes at least $600,000 from the political action committee of former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who ran for president in 2020. These Democrats have raised money from other sources...

Almost two dozen Texas Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C. last month in order to block two 'restrictive' voting reform bills proposed by Republicans have now filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott - who is Republican - threatened to arrest the lawmakers when they eventually return to the Lone Star state after they packed onto private jets and flew to the nation's capitol on July 12. On Friday, 22 of the Democrats filed a complaint in federal court in Austin claiming that Republican attempts to bring them home for a special legislative session is a violation of their...

Nearly two dozen Texas House Democrats who fled the state last month have sued Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican officials, alleging that GOP efforts to bring them back to the state Capitol for a special legislative session infringed on their constitutional rights. The 22 plaintiffs have been "deprived of liberty for substantial periods of time, suffered much anxiety and distress over separation from their families, and much discomfort and embarrassment," the complaint filed late Friday alleges.

State Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) has been stripped of his position as speaker pro tem in the Texas House following his decision to flee the state in order to stymie the ongoing special session that Gov. Greg Abbott called. House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, announced the removal of Moody as speaker pro tem in a memo Thursday morning before the House was set to return on Thursday. He gave no statement but said the removal was effective immediately. “The most important titles in my life will never change: Dad, Husband, El Pasoan,” Moody said in a statement....

‘Isn’t that the most un-Texan thing you’ve ever heard — running from a fight’ The Texas House votes to arrest House Democrats returning to the chamber in order to regain a quorum: pic.twitter.com/3WEEjcu3K2 — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 13, 2021 VIDEO AT LINK.......................... Full background story here… https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/texas-democrats-flee-the-state-to-prevent-passage-of-voter-integrity-bill/

Republicans in the Texas State House voted 76-4 on Tuesday to arrest the runaway Democrats who fled to Washington D.C. to break the quorum and block the passage of Governor Greg Abbott's voting rights bills. 'Members, a sergeant-at-arms and any officer appointed by him are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purpose of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary,' Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced from the State House floor. Texas House rules allow the sergeant-at-arms to arrest members who are not present at the Capitol for a...

The 8 keys to survival for runaway legislatorsThe "Texas 11" who fought Tom DeLay by fleeing to New Mexico have some advice for their Wisconsin counterparts By Teresa Cotsirilos Monday, Feb 28, 2011 20:30 ET The future of American unions might come down to a game of political chicken. Unmoved by historic demonstrations against it, the Wisconsin state Assembly passed Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill last Friday amid raucous protests by Democratic lawmakers. Now, all that's preventing public sector workers in the state from losing their right to bargain collectively are the 14 Democratic state senators holed up across the...

just got off the phone with Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson, one of the Democrats who has left the capitol in order to stall the GOP's plan to rolll back the bargaining rights of public employees. Speaking to me by cell phone from an undisclosed location, Larson said he and his fellow Democrats would not return until the GOP takes its assault on organizing rights "off the table." "Each of us is in a secure location," he told me, confirming that they were not all together but were monitoring events on the Web and on Twitter. Larson refused to say...

Former DA Earle running for Lt. Gov. By Kate Alexander | Friday, December 18, 2009, 06:36 PM Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is running for lieutenant governor of Texas. Earle, who retired last year after more than three decades as district attorney, filed paperwork with the Texas Democratic Party late Friday to seek the party’s nomination for the statewide office. The winner of the Democratic primary in March will probably face the Republican incumbent David Dewhurst next fall. At this point, Earle is the sole filer for the party’s nomination, but Austin deli owner Marc Katz is...

This is so potentially great, even greater than we thought it could be. For a while, ex-Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle talked about running for governor. That could have led to a November battle between Democrat Earle and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, now running against Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP gubernatorial primary. Earle v. Hutchison would have been a rematch of the battle previously known as The State of Texas v. Hutchison, a long-ago criminal case in which Earle was The State of Texas and he wanted to send Hutchison to prison for up to 51 years. The...

Court nixes part of Texas political map By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld most of the Republican-boosting Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but threw out part, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights. ADVERTISEMENT The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents from office. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060628/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_texas_redistricting Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Hispanics do not have...

Texas Republicans were guilty of a naked political power grab when they re-drew congressional boundaries, the Supreme Court was told Wednesday in a case that could have a major impact on elections. Justices are considering whether the Republican-friendly map promoted by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay is unconstitutional. The 2003 boundaries approved by the GOP-controlled state Legislature helped the Republican Party pick up six seats in Congress, but it also led to serious woes for DeLay. He was charged in state court with money laundering in connection with fundraising for legislative candidates. He gave up his leadership post and is...

When more than half of Bexar County's delegation to the Texas House complains about being excluded from the legislative process, it's logical to conclude San Antonio's interests are not being served. Six Democratic lawmakers from Bexar County met recently with the Express-News Editorial Board to air the opinion that they were shut out of the debate during the just-completed special session on school finance. "We're being precluded from representing our school districts," Rep. Carlos Uresti said. The criticism, of course, is directed at House Speaker Tom Craddick, the first Republican speaker of the Texas House in modern times. Craddick's decision...

AUSTIN — An Austin judge acted too hastily last summer in deciding that state troopers have no authority to track down legislators absent from duty, a state appeals court ruled Thursday. In a partial victory for the Department of Public Safety, a three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals returned the question to state District Judge Charles Campbell. But the panel, headed by Chief Justice Kenneth Law, also sided with a legislator on one issue. The panel said the lower court can consider whether the agency destroyed documents from its search for more than 50 House Democrats who fled...

AUSTIN — The 2004 primary season may become known as the Democratic Party purge in the state House. Democrats on Tuesday rejected two more House incumbents, capping a primary season in which party loyalists showed their displeasure with members who cozied up to the state Republicans who hold majority power in the Legislature. Democrats ousted seven-term Rep. Roberto Gutierrez of McAllen and first-termer Gabi Canales of Alice in the primary runoff, sending both to resounding defeats. Neither managed to win even 30 percent of the vote in their races. "These two did not represent their districts well," Democratic Party Chairman...

Editorial Board AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, January 7, 2004 The decision Tuesday by a special panel of three federal judges that the new Texas congressional redistricting plan complies with federal law and the Constitution probably ends this long political war. At least several of the Democratic plaintiffs will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but getting the high court to take a case is usually quite difficult. This kind of fight over congressional redistricting, which included three special sessions of the Legislature and the spectacle of Democratic lawmakers fleeing first to Oklahoma and then to New Mexico, should not happen again....

Wolens says he won't seek re-election Longtime lawmaker makes announcement on first day of filing 09:13 PM CST on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 By TERRENCE STUTZ and ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Wolens of Dallas announced Wednesday he will not seek re-election next year as the filing period opened for legislative candidates. The decision from Mr. Wolens came as several incumbents and other candidates filed for the 15 Senate and 150 House seats on the ballot next year. All must first secure their party's nomination in the March 9 primary. Republicans...