Democracy Dies in a Motel 6: Texas Democrats Flee the Floor Again
Modern politics shares a particular irony that only it can deliver. In case Dems have forgotten how our system of government works, here’s a reminder. There are things called “elections,” where U.S. citizens vote for people to serve as their lawmakers, who then represent the people.
I know, it’s Civics 101, but it’s becoming a nasty habit for Democrats when they decide against serving democracy by fleeing—not rhetorically, but in a physical sense, packing their bags and crossing state lines to break a quorum.
Once again, Democrats in the great state of Texas are refusing to play a game they’ve lost at the ballot box. Rather than demonstrating integrity and character by accepting the election results, they are revealing their true colors by fleeing to prevent Republicans from passing a redrawn congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, which was expected to favor GOP candidates in at least five seats.
What the Democrats are doing isn’t new, bold, and it sure as hell isn’t noble. It’s political cowardice wrapped in just enough self-righteousness to impress only news readers and party donors.
Running From Responsibility, Again
In the state where this expression fits wonderfully, this ain’t their first rodeo. In 2003, redistricting. 2021, voting integrity. Now in 2025, the charter buses are fired up (EV buses?) and loaded as though they’re some sad cover band stuck on their only remotely famous song, “We Ran So We Wouldn’t Lose. Again.”
Their problem this time is a congressional map backed by Trump’s post-reelection push to solidify Republican control of the House ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections.
The dramatic move could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties — with the state’s attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative session is a civil violation, however, so Democrats legally could not be jailed and it’s unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants.
Democrats have cast the decision to leave the state as a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans who hold full control of the Texas government from pushing through a rare mid-decade redrawing of the congressional map at the direction of President Donald Trump.
“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” said Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement.
There’s no question that the map is legal; the process followed the rules. The problem Democrats encountered is a lack of numbers. There are more Republicans than Democrats. The only play the Democrats felt they had was disappearing like flatulence on a windy day, preventing a quorum.
Rather than fulfill their legal obligations, they reportedly opted to flee to Chicago.
You want blatant hypocrisy? Try listening to the same talking heads who spent years lecturing the country about Trump’s supposed threats to democracy—only to bolt as fast as their little legs could carry them.
The High Price of Losing
Here’s an adult concept Democrats can’t bring themselves to believe: They lost. The results of the 2024 election allowed Republicans to expand control in the state House and Senate. The left didn’t simply lose on policy; they lost the will of the voters.
Generally, in a democracy, that’s supposed to matter; elections aren’t symbolic gestures, but they determine outcomes and create consequences. But when the left doesn’t like those outcomes, they kick and scream about fairness and flee the process.
That same broken logic gives us months of hand-wringing about those deadly threats to democracy Trump makes with each Truth Social post. Yet peaceful protests by mobs, rogue prosecutors and judges, and legacy media operatives all work to rig public perception like carnival barkers using loaded dice.
There is only one class of people who try to overturn elections these days: Those who lose them, then try running away.
You Don’t Get to Call It Tyranny When You’re the Minority
The modern version of the Democratic Party has rebranded temper tantrums as resistance and gridlock as a form of heroism. The Texas walkout illustrates this perfectly. Democrats call the redistricting plan “a power grab,” but isn’t that what every political party does when it wins?
What are Republicans expected to do? Hand over the mapmaking to the Democrats because their widdle feelings are hurt?
We’re not watching civil disobedience, we’re seeing procedural sabotage. Texas didn’t elect lawmakers to play possum; they were elected to legislate, debate, vote, and yes, sometimes to lose.
When the left dodges the chamber, they aren’t standing on principle; they’re standing on their chairs to get a better camera angle.
“We’re Not Avoiding Work,” They Say. Yes, You Are.
Texas Representative Gene Wu shared the story of their heroism in a statement:
“We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans. We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over,” said state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, in a statement on Sunday.
His accusations of a rigged system fall short because the system is indeed working; it’s just not working in their favor at the moment. There’s a difference.
This is coming from the same party that’s calling for packing the Supreme Court, open borders, and censorship panels under the guise of fairness. To them, “rigged” is anything that doesn’t give them what they want.
Meanwhile, the Work of Governing Waits
While the Democrats spend time in the wilds of Chicago hotels, displaying their street cred by posing for photo ops in hoodies while waiting in line at Starbucks, real legislative business is stalled.
We’re not talking minor issues, either. Here’s a short list of work the Democrats are missing:
- Flood damage relief for rural counties.
- Education code updates.
- A bipartisan hemp THC bill that would help Texas farmers.
There’s more, but it doesn’t matter to the Democrats fighting for Texans while in Chicago.
All this is because the minority party hates the idea of losing a vote
This is what makes the stunt so damaging; it’s not just dishonest, but also cruel to the people who elected these lawmakers to do something, anything, besides pouting.
History Will Laugh at Them
As proud and heroic as they believe themselves to be, history will not be kind to them. This isn’t Selma, or 1964; nobody is being denied a seat at the table. They have seats, but they’re simply choosing not to sit in them.
Compare their actions to those of heroes who have become legends at places like Belleau Wood, Valley Forge, and even Selma. Those were circumstances where standing up to justice meant serious physical risk. The most significant risk the cowards in Chicago have to face is if the hotel’s continental breakfast runs out of bagels.
This walkout doesn’t include danger; nothing justifies it. It’s only political theater and legislative vandalism.
Future Texan generations won’t look back on their actions and say, “Thank God they stayed in Illinois to fight for us.” Instead, they’ll ask a simple, direct question, “Why didn’t they do their jobs?”
This Is What Happens When Losing Becomes Unacceptable
Because of the direction our society followed, we’ve arrived at a moment in American life where too many people on the left believe that disagreement equals tyranny, and losing elections means our system is broken. They see power not as something to be won through persuasion, but as something to be seized by any means necessary: courts, boycotts, censorship, and, in this case, vanishing acts.
Ever since those of us in flyover country started receiving news from new, credible sources, it’s no longer about the will of the people. It’s become the will of the activists and power-craved narcissists. If voters get in the way, maps are challenged, laws are rewritten, or legislators take trips using planes that run on fossil fuel and pollute the skies to dodge the entire thing.
It’s Not Just a Texas Problem
We’ve seen this happen in Oregon, Indiana, and Wisconsin, where lawmakers who can’t win the vote walk out to block the other side from governing. It’s the legislative version of “You can’t fire me, I quit.”
In 2011, Wisconsin Democrats fled the state to protest Act 10, then-Governor Scott Walker’s move to end 50 years of collective bargaining for public workers, including teachers. Fourteen Democratic lawmakers snuck across the border to Illinois to avoid doing their job.
That was personal for me because my middle daughter was in high school at the time when teachers across the state called in “sick.” As luck would have it, I ran into the school’s teacher’s union president in a grocery store line. To his credit, he didn’t run away from me, and I wasn’t nice to him. I heard the company line repeatedly, but I stumped him when I asked, “Where do the children fit in all their actions?” Our conversation was respectful on both sides, and neither walked away satisfied.
Want to see Einstein’s quote about insanity in action? Democrats play this game many times, and the results are always the same: nothing is solved, tempers boil, and the news cycle spins. And when the circus folds up, the legislation they tried blocking winds up passing anyway, sometimes even stronger than before.
What’s the bloody point?
Simple. Drama, optics, and, most importantly, fundraising. They feed a media ecosystem that’s ready to treat every act of leftist obstruction as heroic, not what it really is: pathetic.
Final Thoughts
Cutting to the chase, what Texan Democrats are doing isn’t fair, it’s not about democracy, it’s about control. They didn’t leave their state to save democracy; they left because they didn’t accept losing it. The scoreboard wasn’t in their favor, and rather than play the game like they’re supposed to, they took their ball and vanished.
What they call leadership, we call cowardice. Voters need to remember this the next time these same lawmakers are seen grinning like fools in front of a camera, lecturing us again about integrity.
If you’re tired of watching the left try to sabotage democracy every time they lose at the ballot box, you’re not alone. At PJ Media, we cover the stories legacy outlets ignore and expose the tactics political cowards use to pretend they’re martyrs. To get more columns like this, and to support real journalism with backbone, join our VIP community today.
