Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke has issued a warning to Democrats of a third term for President Donald Trump if they’re unable to stop Republicans from gerrymandering another five seats out of the Lone Star State.
“No longer will we have a check on his lawlessness, accountability for his corruption and crimes, and we will see a Republican-majority Congress roll out the royal red carpet for a third Trump term,” O’Rourke, a one-time presidential candidate, said during an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday. “Those are the stakes, and that’s why we got to fight and we got to fight to win.”
A panel in the Texas statehouse advanced the redrawn map on Friday during a special session focused on last month's deadly floods. The new map would add five new Republican seats in Texas. However, O’Rourke argued that it’s not a done deal and that Texas Democrats are still able to deny Republicans the numbers they need to certify the maps.
The White House asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special session of the state legislature to redraw the map, with Republican lawmakers openly saying they’re attempting to gain a political advantage.
O’Rourke said during his MSNBC appearance that he hopes that Democrats in the state will deny Republicans the votes they need and “deprive” Trump of the additional Republican seats in Congress. He added that he wants the Democrats to inspire Americans, noting that voters have been looking to Democrats “to fight and to fight to win.”
The 2020 presidential candidate went on to say that Democrats should look to redraw the maps in heavily blue states, such as California, New Jersey, and Illinois, to squeeze out more Democratic seats to counter the action taken by Texas Republicans.
“There are no refs in this game anymore,” he said. “No courts are going to ride to the rescue. This is just an all-out bareknuckle brawl, and we’ve got to win it and be ruthlessly focused on it.”
Texas Democrats revealed Sunday that they would leave the state in order to stop the legislative session from going ahead, even as they face possible fines and other penalties.
O’Rourke argued that what’s happening in Texas could be the future of every American. He slammed the state’s loose gun laws, abortion ban, and low minimum wage.
“Some really bad stuff is happening in Texas, but some really good things have come from this state, as well,” he said. “That’s why we need all hands on deck in this state, or what you see right now will be your future, no matter where you live in this country.”
Late on Sunday, Abbott told Texas Democrats that he would attempt to have them removed from office if they don’t get back to the state’s capital of Austin to pass the new maps. More than 50 Democrats left the state on Sunday afternoon, meaning that the Texas House wouldn’t have a quorum, which is the number of lawmakers required to pass legislation under the rules of the chamber.
Democrats are attempting to put a stop to all legislative moves for the rest of this special session, which is set to end later this month.
“This truancy ends now,” Abbott said in a letter to the members. “The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened to arrest the lawmakers.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he said. “We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
Alongside some of the departed lawmakers, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during a press conference on Sunday that he would protect the Democratic members amid the threats.
“We’re going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them … because we know they’re doing the right thing, we know that they’re following the law,” he said, adding that the lawmakers “were left no choice but to leave their home state, block a vote from taking place, and protect their constituents.”
