Seven House Democrats making day trip to New Mexico amid redistricting battle

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Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus have gone to New Mexico for the day to meet with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. It’s not a quorum break — unlike the last time Texas Democrats sent a contingent to New Mexico — but another chance for Democrats to lock arms nationally against the mid-decade redistricting effort in the Lone Star State.

House Democrats headed to Santa Fe on Tuesday include:

• Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Moody of El Paso

• Jon Rosenthal of Houston, vice chair of the Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting
• John Bucy of Austin
• Salman Bhojani of Euless
• Erin Elizabeth Gámez of Brownsville

• Josey Garcia of San Antonio
• Christian Manuel of Port Arthur

It’s the THDC’s third such expeditionary force this special session after members traveled to California and Illinois on Friday to meet with Govs. Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker. Democrats frame the coalition as a national “firewall” against Texas’ map redraw pushed by President Donald Trump and called by Gov. Greg Abbott as Republicans look to retain the U.S. House in 2026.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York will travel to Austin on Wednesday, underscoring the national spotlight on Austin.

Unlike Newsom and Pritzker, Lujan Grisham isn’t considering retaliatory redistricting because there’s no more juice to squeeze out of New Mexico. The state’s three congressional seats are already held by Democrats. Instead, Texas Democrats are using the trip to argue that Abbott and Republicans are wasting time with redistricting as opposed to prioritizing a legislative response to the recent Central Texas floods.

Flash floods have hit the New Mexico mountain town of Ruidoso three times in less than a month during the ongoing monsoon season. One of the floods killed three people. The town is expected to get more rain Tuesday.

“We’re traveling to meet with leaders who put people first in a crisis,” Moody said in a statement, contrasting New Mexico with Texas’ focus on redistricting. “We’re seeking serious, productive conversations with other governors about how to solve the real problems Texans expect and deserve their leaders to solve.”

Flood response is on Abbott’s call for the special session, but the Republican-controlled Legislature could adopt a new congressional map first, making it politically unpalatable for Democrats to break quorum with flood debate still to come.

Additionally, the day trip teases the possibility that House Democrats could leave Austin for longer, grinding the special session to a halt by denying the Legislature enough members to conduct business. House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu of Houston last week suggested a quorum break is on the table as the minority weighs its options to thwart redistricting.

Between the trips to California, Illinois and now New Mexico, 22 Democrats have taken a trip out of state during the special session under threat of being compelled back to Austin. It would take 51 of the caucus’ 62 Democrats to successfully break quorum.

“Our message to leaders across the country has been simple: if they can steal five seats in Texas by breaking the rules, your state is next,” Rosenthal said in a statement.

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