A group of Texas Democrats who fled the state to prevent Republicans from gerrymandering ahead of next year’s midterm elections were forced to evacuate their hotel in Chicago on Wednesday due to a bomb threat they blamed on rhetoric from Texas Republicans and President Donald Trump.
“This morning there was a bomb threat at our hotel. We were evacuated and everyone is safe,” Texas state Rep. John Bucey III wrote in a post online. “This is what happens when Republican state leaders publicly call for us to be ‘hunted down.’ Texas Democrats won’t be intimidated.”
“As a former human trafficking prosecutor, I’ve faced threats before, but never from the Governor or President Trump,” added Texas state Rep. Ann Johnson. [Texas Attorney General Ken] Paxton told his supporters to ‘hunt us down’—but we won’t be silenced.”
Texas Republicans, at the urging of Trump, are planning to secure five more seats in Congress through an off-schedule redrawing of the electoral map in the Lone Star State. The controversial move would help the GOP retain control of the House next year amid worries in the party about their unpopular electoral agenda of slashing Medicaid and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Democratic members of the Texas legislature refused to show up for the special session, however, denying Republicans the required quorum to push through the new maps. The Democrats traveled to the blue state of Illinois this week instead, meeting with state officials who are pondering similar redistricting efforts to offset the likely GOP gains in Texas.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender who met with the Texas Democrats on Tuesday before vowing to fight “cheater” Trump, said the bomb threat would be investigated by local authorities.
“I am aware of reports that threats were made against Texas elected officials in our state. Threats of violence will be investigated and those responsible will be held accountable,” Pritzker said Wednesday.
The Texas Democrats are facing daily fines for refusing to show up to the state’s legislative session, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is attempting to remove them from their jobs. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), meanwhile, is calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get involved and help bring the Democrats back to Texas.
“This is the lead-up to authoritarianism, that this is what despots and dictators do around the world,” Texas House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu said Tuesday during an interview on MSNBC. “We have fought wars against people like this. We have sacrificed lives to free people from dictators like this who do these kind of things, who use the legal process, use law enforcement to go hunt down their enemies, hunt down people who disagree with them, and use any means necessary to silence them.”
Republicans, meanwhile, argue that they are simply entitled to more congressional seats in Texas and potentially other red states, like Indiana and Missouri.
“We are a red state, we deserve more representation,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News.
