Case Summary
LWVTX, Asian Texans for Justice, OCA-Greater Houston, UnidosUS, and the Texas State Conference of the NAACP filed an amicus brief in the Texas Supreme Court asking the justices to deny Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to disqualify several state legislators for fleeing the state to prevent the passage of a new gerrymandered congressional map. The legislators had fled the state to prevent the state legislature from passing a mid-decade racial gerrymander of Texas’ congressional districts. In its brief, the League asserted the Texas constitution’s separation of powers barred the disqualification, and the legislators had a right to resist legislation by fleeing the state and thereby breaking quorum.
In 2025, President Donald Trump ordered Texas state legislators to redraw the state’s congressional districts, seeking to give Republicans five more seats in the United States House of Representatives to bolster their narrow majority. To prevent the redistricting, which would have harmed communities of color in Texas, several Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives fled the state to keep the chamber from reaching a quorum, which requires two-thirds of the members to be present under the state constitution.
In response, on August 8, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against several Democratic state House members in the state supreme court, arguing that by fleeing the state to break quorum, the legislators had vacated their seats.
On September 2, 2025, the League of Women Voters of Texas (LWVTX), Asian Texans for Justice, OCA-Greater Houston, UnidosUS, and the Texas State Conference of the NAACP filed an amicus brief against the Texas Attorney General’s requested relief. In the brief, the groups argued that breaking quorum was a constitutionally protected means of protest against legislation, one that had been employed numerous times in Texas, and that the legislators had shown no intention of abandoning their seats. LWVTX and its co-amici also argued that granting the Attorney General’s request was barred by the separation of powers in the state Constitution, which provides the legislature with several ways to restore a quorum. Finally, the groups argued that allowing duly elected legislators to be unseated by the Attorney General would set a dangerous precedent and undermine the will of the voters who elect their representatives.
LWVTX was represented in this matter by Democracy Forward.
LWV Timeline
Texas Attorney General files petition
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton files a petition for writs of quo warranto in the state supreme court, asking it to vacate the seats of several Democratic state representatives who fled the state to deny the legislature a quorum to enact a mid-decade gerrymander.
LWVTX files amicus brief
LWVTX and partners file an amicus brief in the Texas Supreme Court, arguing that the attorney general’s requested relief was barred by the separation of powers and set a dangerous precedent by allowing disqualification of duly elected legislators for using longstanding tactics to oppose legislation.
Texas Supreme Court issues opinion
The Texas Supreme Court rejects the requests from Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton to vacate the seats of Democratic state house members that broke quorum.