As my PJ Media colleague Stephen Green previously reported, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had a blunt message for the Democrats who fled the state to sabotage a redistricting vote: “You’re fired.”
Abbott didn’t mince words, calling them “derelict Democrats” and vowing to take legal action if they refused to return, up to and including arrest, removal from office, and triggering special elections under a 2021 AG opinion. He also raised the possibility of felony charges for those accepting outside funds to dodge their $500-a-day absentee fines, calling it a potential violation of state bribery laws.
More than 50 Texas Democrats skipped town, staging a quorum break designed to grind the legislature to a halt. But where did they flee? To Illinois, a state that Democrats run, which is notorious for having some of the most blatantly gerrymandered congressional maps in the nation. That choice alone exposes the real story here.
These Democrats claim they’re fighting for “fair maps” and “voting rights,” but they ran straight to the state that’s made an art form out of silencing Republican voters through crooked gerrymandering. If this were really about principle, they’d be hiding out anywhere but Illinois. Instead, they sought political asylum in the capital of partisan redistricting.
Fleeing to Illinois, the most egregiously gerrymandered state in the country, to make as clear as possible this stunt is about partisanship not principle. Chef’s kiss. https://t.co/xsXRxFqPHy pic.twitter.com/DmVcEmxan2
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) August 4, 2025
Illinois Democrats have spent years perfecting the most absurdly shaped districts imaginable, twisting and warping maps to lock in their control and crush GOP representation. Can anyone look at the above map and tell me with a straight face that Democrats have a moral high ground on gerrymandering?
It’s so bad that CNN is calling them out. On Monday morning, CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski mocked the Democrats for going to Illinois.
Was there nobody on the PR side who was like maybe we shouldn’t go to one of the most corrupt gerrymandered states in the country? https://t.co/ahNLnUJGT0
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) August 4, 2025
When you have CNN calling you out, you’re in trouble. Everyone knows their retreat isn’t a principled stand for democracy; it’s a tactical maneuver to preserve political power. They howl about partisan maps in red states while conveniently disappearing into a blue stronghold that perfected the art of gerrymandering.
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This is hypocrisy at its most brazen. They want one standard for Republicans — fairness, transparency, reform — while exempting themselves from all of it. And when voters start to notice the double standard? They vanish.
If Democrats truly cared about “fair maps,” they wouldn’t be hiding out in Illinois, the national poster child for redistricting abuse. Their actions betray their motives, exposing this entire charade for what it really is: a desperate, self-serving stunt to cling to power under the phony guise of democratic integrity.
In the end, their retreat to Illinois tells us everything we need to know. This isn’t about democracy; it’s about Democrats. And the louder they scream about fairness, the clearer it becomes: they’re just afraid of losing.
You just witnessed the height of hypocrisy: Democrats fleeing Texas only to hide in the gerrymandered fortress of Illinois. Become a PJ Media VIP for exclusive coverage and uncensored commentary. Use the code FIGHT for 60% off. Don’t let them rewrite the rules. Join us and fight back today!
