Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stall a Republican redistricting plan have signaled they’re ready to return to the Lone Star State in the coming days. The Texas state legislature wrapped up its first special session on Friday,

Texas Democrats have moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP's redrawing of U.S. House maps before the 2026 election.

Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke announced on Saturday that his political group, Powered by People, donated more than $1 million to Texas Democrats during a special session in which they walked out to deny Republicans the quorum they needed to pass new congressional maps.

The plan would help Democrats flip five seats, offsetting the gains Republicans hope to make by redrawing maps in Texas.

After leaving the state to block the G.O.P. from redrawing the state’s congressional maps, Democratic lawmakers are keeping the pressure on from afar.

Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the House, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among states that rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

Exiled Texas State Democratic legislators, who fled to Illinois to block gerrymandering, visited a mosque with a Skokie official.

We can’t let a systematic assault on democracy just happen and stand by,” the former president said on a Zoom call with Texas Democrats.