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Jonathan Turley Predicts Whether Greg Abbott Will Be Able To Wrangle Dem Lawmakers Back To Texas

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George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas would eventually get Democrats to attend a special session on a new congressional map.

Democrats in the Texas state Legislature fled to Illinois in order to thwart a special session of the body to consider redistricting that could net Republicans up to five seats in the United States House of Representatives. Turley said the Democrats’ plans were akin to “a child holding his breath” to break his parents’ will.

“Democrats have used this tactic in the past,” Turley told “America Reports” co-host Sandra Smith. “It was not successful the last time. It’s the legislative equivalent of a child holding his breath until his parents yield to his demands. You’re more likely to pass out then prevail. That as the same as in this circumstance. The governor can call more special sessions. So, it’s unlikely Democrats are going to be able to keep this up long enough. They are trying to run out the clock.”

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Abbott threatened to have Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton remove Democrats who fled the state to prevent the Texas House of Representatives from having a quorum. Abbott also accused Democrats who raised funds to offset fines for missing the session of bribery.

Democrats fled Texas and went to Washington, D.C., in 2021 to try to halt passage of SB7, an election integrity bill, but the legislation eventually passed and was signed into law by Abbott.

“What the governor is referring to is itself a difficult process. One of the things he is suggested is the attorney general of Texas can argue that these legislators have abandoned their office,” Turley said. “To do that you’ve got to go to court and the judge has to say yeah, this office is now vacant because of their actions. That’s a tough argument to make but it is possible, but it takes time. That’s what the Democrats are hoping for. They need 100 of 150 members to make a quorum. That’s why roughly 50 have fled to these democratic strongholds.”

“Now, when he refers to bribery, he is saying we are going to hit you with very high fines and you cannot get other people to pay those fines and you can’t accept money during this flight and I’m going to argue that that is bribery,” Turley continued. “Once again that takes a lot of time. So this is a standoff that ultimately the governor is likely to win, but there’s no good options here for either side in my view.”

Turley later noted that if Democrats’ claims about redistricting harming minority voters were true, courts would strike down the maps.

“If these Democrats are correct that these redistricting efforts are going to violate the rights of minority voters, the way that is vindicated is in the courts. You’re preventing this from going to the courts,” Turley said. “Go ahead, have everyone represent their constituencies and have the map go forward and challenge it in court. The problem is that if this is held to be constitutional, it really is going to shred this argument.”