While most Texas House Democrats left the state to block a Republican-led mid-decade redistricting plan, State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond of Laredo has remained at the Capitol, working to persuade GOP lawmakers to reconsider a proposal that could reshape the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican leaders, encouraged by President Donald Trump and the White House, are pushing a new congressional map designed to add five GOP-leaning seats. The move could help secure a Republican majority in the closely divided U.S. House and advance Trump’s agenda through the remainder of his term.
Democrats responded by traveling to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts to break quorum and stall the measure. In Texas, two-thirds of the 150-member legislature must be present to conduct business. Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest absent lawmakers, and Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state Supreme Court to remove 13 Democrats from office for abandoning their posts.
The standoff has spurred a national “redistricting arms race,” with Democratic-led states exploring ways to create more blue-leaning districts, while other Republican-controlled states, including Indiana, Missouri, and Florida, consider similar GOP-boosting redraws.
Raymond, 64, has seen such a fight before. In 2003, he was part of a Democratic walkout to Oklahoma in protest of a similar Republican redistricting push. That plan ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld most of it but struck down a portion for violating the Voting Rights Act by diluting Latino voting power.
This time, Raymond — a moderate Democrat representing a heavily Latino border district of about 183,000 residents — has opted to stay in Austin. He says his approach is rooted in dialogue. “Hablando se entiende — speaking to each other, you’re able to understand each other,” Raymond said, explaining his strategy of engaging with all 149 other members of the chamber.
Political analysts note that border districts like Raymond’s have shifted in recent years. In 2024, Trump won 14 of 18 Texas border counties, including Webb County, in one of the strongest Republican performances in the region in decades. Analysts say such trends make it politically risky for South Texas Democrats to be seen aligning too closely with national party leaders.
Despite his efforts, experts like Rice University’s Mark Jones believe it is unlikely Republicans will alter their maps to reduce partisan advantage. Raymond himself concedes the challenge, likening it to the Sisyphean task of rolling a boulder uphill. His main concern is that the dispute will again end up before the Supreme Court, which is now more favorable to Republican priorities.
The Aug. 8 House session lasted only eight minutes before being adjourned due to the lack of quorum. Raymond used the time to continue conversations with both Republican and Democratic colleagues, determined to keep the lines of communication open as the political deadlock continues.
