Texas residents say 'there should be consequences' for Dems fleeing state to avoid vote

Texas residents slammed Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state to avoid a vote this week, speaking out during interviews with Fox News Digital.

Houston locals voiced strong opposition to the decision by Democratic lawmakers to leave Texas earlier this week, a move intended to block a vote on the GOP's proposed congressional district map. Many residents condemned the tactic.

"There should be consequences on both sides. It's happened both ways. And I feel like if you're, you know, elected, and you're holding a seat, and you're supposed to represent the people, I don't care which side of the aisle you're on. You show up every time you do it," James said.

"It's your job," he added.

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Dozens of Democratic Texas state lawmakers fled the state this week to avoid a vote on Republicans' new proposed congressional district map, which would potentially secure five new GOP U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. They claim the redistricting - which is backed by President Donald Trump - will disenfranchise minority voters.

The lawmakers intended their absence to block the quorum necessary to conduct a vote on the map. According to Texas House rules, at least 100 of the 150 members must be present to conduct business in the state legislature.

Many of the Democrats traveled to Illinois, where they were invited by the state's Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. 

"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that they're welcome here, that they have the ability to stay as long as they need to and want to," Pritzker said on Sunday.

Calvin, a Houston resident originally from Seattle, told Fox, "If these were regular jobs, people would probably be in a lot more trouble for this."

He added, "I do think in general it's a problem that people are not showing up to general votes. I've heard stories where there's a lot of people not present during votes for bills, and it's only like 20% or less. So, I think that's kind of weird. Like, if I didn't show up for a meeting, I'd probably be in trouble."

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to arrest Democratic lawmakers who didn't return for Monday's vote and expel them from office.

He wrote in a statement Sunday, "This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House."

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GOP Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows announced this week he would sign arrest warrants against any absent Democratic lawmakers if authorized by a vote of the chamber. Abbott then called on the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest the "delinquent Texas House Democrats."

Glenn said he doesn't agree with putting the lawmakers behind bars, but said there should be some penalty for their actions. 

"I don't think that they should be, you know, going to jail or anything like that, but maybe they need to do something to get the Democrats and the Republicans to work together on this. This is very important, but no… I don't think they should be reprimanded that bad, but you know, maybe taken off the seats."

James agreed: "If it applies to everybody, I think there should be repercussions. Arrests seem a little bit harsh, but you know, depends on the situation, I guess."

Calvin said he believes arrest warrants "would be justified," noting it's not likely that actual arrests would occur.

"It'd be kinda more like a threat to get them back to voting on the redistricting," he said.

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When asked if the walkouts represented a threat to democracy, Hannah expressed skepticism that the public cares.

"I feel like there's a lot of people that just honestly like - [the] average citizen that wouldn't even care about this, because a lot of people just don't go out and vote themselves."

James felt differently, saying the move was "absolutely" a threat to democracy.

A man named Ian told Fox, "I don't think it's a good way to deal with the problem. They need to improve their message and do better in elections so that they're not in the minority. As long as they're in the minority, one of the problems that they have is that they may not get their way."

When asked if he thinks it's a threat to democracy, Glenn replied, "I do. I think that's not right."