Texas voters are furious that the state GOP is trying to silence their voices, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) told MSNBC's Jason Johnson on Tuesday — and they're making their voices heard.
Democratic state lawmakers have been absent from the state for over a week to block passage of a heavily gerrymandered mid-decade redistricting plan, drafted at President Donald Trump's request, that would make five Democratic-held seats more Republican-leaning.
ABC News has reported that with the special session ending this week, Democrats are planning to return to the state — but Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to "immediately" call another special session with the same agenda, and the Democratic caucus has warned their plans could change if the GOP does not prioritize flood relief over redistricting.
"People want someone in Congress who's speaking for them," said Johnson. "When you're traveling around Texas, when you're, when you're home, when you're at your desk in other parts of the state, what are Texas residents saying about Abbott's attempt to redistrict, or are people still being informed? Is anybody there who doesn't know, or people sort of screaming to you and the Democratic leadership for help?"
"Yeah, no," said Crockett. "The people in Texas are not happy. Obviously, we know that they had these hearings where they went around and of course did not offer a map, and then by the time they offered a map, they only gave people 48 hours notice to then show up on a work day in Austin to testify because they did not want to hear from them. Well over 400 people signed up to testify against the bill, and maybe about 20 signed up to support the bill. So listen, we know that these lawmakers are not listening to the people. Instead, they are doing whatever Trump and Abbott tell them to do."
"I think that there is going to be a reckoning," she added. "If we harken back to 2018, we know that we saw waves everywhere. I think that the backlash is going to be even bigger."
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