Democrats are fundraising off their Texas lawmakers’ move to flee the state for Washington, D.C., on Monday in protest, forgoing their duties as legislators to deny Republicans a quorum to pass election integrity legislation.
“We’ve now raised $142,000 to support the Texas Democrats putting it all on the line to save democracy,” failed Texas senate candidate and former Democrat presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said Monday evening after referring to the lawmakers as “courageous public servants.”
“They’re working to protect the right to vote for each and every one of us — in Texas and across the country,” he continued. “Let’s do our part by continuing to donate”:
Maskless Democrats cheerfully grinned as they departed the Lone Star State. A case of Miller Lite — which requires an ID to purchase — could be seen on their bus as they fled the state in protest of GOP efforts to pursue basic election integrity measures:
Texas Democrats nixed an election integrity bill this year, which included additional restrictions on vote-by-mail, by staging a walkout, leaving Republicans without a quorum to vote. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) subsequently promised to include election integrity issues in the special session, which began on July 8.
“Today, Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans’ freedom to vote,” a group of the Democrat Texas lawmakers said in a statement, demanding Congress to pass the hyperpartisan “For the People Act,” which would nationalize U.S. elections and strip states of their abilities to implement basic election safeguards, such as voter ID — something a majority of Americans across the board support.
“We are now taking the fight to our nation’s Capitol. We are living on borrowed time in Texas,” the Democrats continued.
“We need Congress to act now to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to protect Texans — and all Americans — from the Trump Republicans’ nationwide war on democracy,” they added.
Abbott blasted Democrats for abandoning their duties, contending their action “inflicts harm on the very Texans who elected them to serve.”
“As they fly across the country on cushy private planes, they leave undone issues that can help their districts and our state,” he continued, adding Monday night that those Democrats “will be arrested and brought back to the Capitol” after they set foot back in the Lone Star State.