Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said in a Friday interview Democrats who refused to return to his state would “hopefully” be jailed.
“I don’t know, we’re going to — we’re definitely waiting to see if they show up,” Paxton said on “Fox & Friends First” on whether they would see Texas Democrats in handcuffs by the end of the day.
“Dustin Burrows, our Speaker, has given them a deadline of showing up today. They show up today. We’re all happy. We can get our business done. And everybody’s — everybody’s good,” Paxton added. “If they do not show up, we will be in an Illinois courtroom trying to do just that, not necessarily trying to handcuff them, but get them back to the state of Texas, hold them in contempt, and if they refuse to come, hopefully put them in jail.”
Texas Democrats fled the state beginning Sunday to block Republicans from trying to pass a GOP friendly House map that would give the party five more pickup opportunities next year.
Committees in the Texas House and Texas Senate have passed an identical set of House maps that would give the GOP a further edge, teeing each set up for a vote on the House and Senate floors respectively.
But because Democrats have left the state, those efforts have stalled. It remains unclear how long Democrats will be out of Texas, but Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has warned he’ll keep calling special sessions until they’re back.
Texas House Republicans are convening later on Friday to establish a quorum, with GOP leaders warning there will be consequences if Democrats fail to show up.
Paxton brushed aside concerns that the optics of putting Democrats in handcuffs would give Democrats a win “in the court of public opinion.”
“No, I think in Texas — I don’t know what it’s like in other states — but I do know Texas, people expect their representatives to go to work, go fight it out. If you disagree, you disagree,” he said.
“That’s the process. The process is not to avoid showing up and being part of the fight,” he continued. “I think the fact that they have done that has already put them in a negative light in most — at least in most minds in Texas.”
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