AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Texas Supreme Court in May 2026 refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional maps had vacated their offices. The court's all-Republican bench rejected a lawsuit filed directly to it by Gov. Greg Abbott, who had argued that state Rep. Gene Wu and other Democrats effectively abandoned their offices by leaving Texas.

More than 50 Democratic lawmakers had bolted to New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on new congressional maps during a special legislative session. The walkout shut down the session, which Abbott had called to address redistricting and other issues. The state constitution requires that at least 100 of the 150 Texas House members be present to conduct business.

Justice James Blacklock wrote in the court's opinion that the Republican-majority Legislature had resolved the quorum break by imposing fines on the missing lawmakers and that the lawmakers returned on their own within a few weeks. "In the end, a quorum was restored in two weeks' time, without judicial intervention, by the interplay of political and practical forces," Blacklock wrote.

"Courts have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves," he wrote. The opinion said the court may consider stepping in in the future if the Legislature cannot compel lawmakers to return.

After the Democrats returned to Texas, the Legislature passed the new congressional map, and Abbott signed it into law. Wu argued that he was exercising a right to dissent, not abandoning his office, and that because he had returned to the Capitol and the map was signed into law, there was no longer any reason for the court to weigh in.

"When Greg Abbott threatened to arrest and expel us for denying him a quorum, we told him he should 'come and take it.' He tried!" Wu said in a statement. "Abbott was wrong, weak, and after all his bluster, he couldn't come and take a damn thing," he said.

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the governor, said that if lawmakers leave again, Abbott will bring the same issue back to the court. "No elected official has the right to abandon their duties, flee the state and shut down the people's business," Mahaleris said. "Governor Abbott's legal action is what brought derelict Democrats back to Texas to do their jobs and pass the Big Beautiful Map," he said.

The 2025 walkout was the third quorum break in Texas since 2003, when lawmakers bolted to stop a vote on a redistricting bill. In 2021, Democratic lawmakers walked out to block an elections bill, and the Texas Supreme Court ruled that year that the state constitution allows for a quorum break and permits consequences to bring absent members back.