(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast - August 4, 2025 [1] ['The Texas Tribune'] Date: 2025-08 15 days until sine die 96 days until the candidate filing period begins 126 days until the candidate filing deadline Where do we go from here? WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Hello to our Blast readers in Texas, Illinois and wherever else you may be. Texas House Democrats have broken quorum, kicking off a political firestorm that threatens a nationwide tit-for-tat for years to come. House Speaker Dustin Burrows has called for House sergeants to round up absent members, Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to remove Democrats for abandoning their office and Attorney General Ken Paxton is pushing to “lock them up.” Meanwhile, Democratic governors say they will counter with their own mid-decade congressional redraws if Texas Republicans get their way. Here’s how this could play out. The House will return tomorrow and attempt to constitute a quorum, 100 members. After that, the House Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding will meet in the Capitol Extension. Expect Republicans to have some stern words for Democrats during that meeting. But beyond tomorrow, the fight could drag out all the way until November 2026, even if Democrats come home. In theory, if Texas Republicans want to give President Donald Trump five more congressional seats, they will have to get the maps approved by Nov. 8, the beginning of the candidate filing period. But it’s not that simple. Officials at the Texas Secretary of State are beginning to discuss what practical deadlines they’re working with, but it’s not immediately clear what the deadlines are. Even if they do, the Legislature could shift the deadlines around. In 2021, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 13, which created compressed filing periods and alternate primary dates depending on how long it took the Legislature to adopt the maps. That could be a template for the upcoming filing period. Meanwhile, if Abbott and Paxton carry through on their threat to try to unseat absconding members from the Legislature, those cases would inevitably get bogged down in court. Most absent Democrats hail from districts where Democrats serve as the district judge and would likely rule in their favor. However, there would be appeals that would likely take the 51-plus cases to the Texas Supreme Court. The legal fight would involve contested subpoenas and some illuminating discovery, which Republicans would be eager to see thanks to the bribery angle that Abbott has suggested. Those court cases could loom over Democrats’ heads all the way until the election. Most of those Democrats serve in safe seats anyway, but it would be a headache at a minimum. Until then, the fight to 100 continues. Republicans only need to rope 12 Democrats back to Austin to make quorum, and they’re already halfway there. Additionally, multiple Republican members are confident that there are enough Democratic stragglers still in town. “I saw, for instance, there is one member who said that they are doing a fundraiser here in Austin tomorrow,” Burrows told reporters this afternoon. “I’ve sent that fundraising letter to DPS and said they should be invited to attend as well.” It appears that was Rep. Jolanda Jones of Houston, although her fundraiser has been canceled. So far, The Blast can only account for 42 Democrats who are for sure outside the state. Some Republicans are looking back to 2021 and past leadership when considering how the current quorum break has escalated. [END] --- [1] Url: https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-august-4-2025-1a8c121c70a6f222 Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/