Beto O'Rourke is taking the fight against President Donald Trump's attempts to redistrict Texas across the U.S.
The former U.S. representative for El Paso and former presidential candidate is holding townhalls in communities across the country under the banner of "stop the steal in Texas", including in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, to challenge the Trump administration's attempts to drive redistricting in Texas. On Aug. 9, he held a rally in Dallas-Fort Worth, where he condemned Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott's attempt to redraw the congressional seats, including the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso.
"Trump knows that he will be unable to hold on to the House of Representatives without these five seats in Texas that he is trying to steal," O'Rourke told the El Paso Times. "If we are successful in stopping the steal of these five congressional seats, then there will be a Democratic majority in the House. We will have a check on Trump's lawlessness, we will have accountability for his crimes, for his corruption. We will have free and fair elections going forward."
But the future looks grim if Democrats are unable to stop the redistricting in Texas, O'Rourke said.
"If we fail to stop what they're doing, then we are going to see the consolidation of authoritarian power in the hands of the president," he explained. "We are going to see more of Trump's political opponents targeted for retribution, even with violence, and we are going to see a Republican majority Congress roll out the red carpet for a Trump third term. That is why I think this is the election of 2026 being decided in the summer of 2025 in Texas."
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Texas has become the place where Republicans test out policy. This can be seen in the example of Abbott's launch of Operation Lone Star in March 2021, which militarized the border in response to the mass arrival of migrants, a prelude to Trump issuing an executive order that declared an emergency at the border, which led to the deployment of active duty soldiers to the border.
"(Texas) has become the laboratory for extremism, whether it is bending the knee to the gun lobby — even after the El Paso shooting, even after Waco — and whether it is the attack on democracy and the right to vote," O'Rourke said. "This is the frontline of the most important fight in the country."
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El Paso's Moody standing up for the Borderland
Faced with the push to pass the approval of the new congressional maps, more than 50 Texas Democrats broke quorum on Aug. 2. They left the state to deny Abbott the ability to advance with the special legislative session. It was the first time a quorum had been broken in the Texas legislative branch since 2021.
Breaking quorum is costing Democrats $500 each day due to rules within the Texas legislative branch. O'Rourke has been fundraising to help cover these costs.
Not all Texas Democrats fled the state. Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, was among those who stayed in the state to continue working to stop the approval of the new maps.
"He is a good man," O'Rourke said. "He is doing what is in the best interest of El Paso, he is doing what is in the best interest of the state, and is in the best interest of stopping this deal that Donald Trump, Greg Abbott and the Republicans are trying to pull off."
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Moody has continued to support his colleagues who left the state. He and Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, filed a legal brief Friday, Aug. 8, in support of House Democratic Caucus Chair state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, who is among the Democrats targeted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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Paxton targets O'Rourke and Democrats
O'Rourke has built on the voter registration network he established ahead of the 2024 elections to challenge gerrymandering in Texas. His grassroots organization, Powered by People, is the largest voter registration group in the state and one of the largest in the country, he said.
Paxton has targeted O'Rourke for the work he has done to challenge the redistricting. Paxton has accused O'Rourke on social media of bribery, launched an investigation into Powered by People, and on Aug. 12, he called for the jailing of O'Rourke for the fundraising he has done to support Texas Democrats.
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The Texas Supreme Court issued an order that blocked O'Rourke from funding the Democrat legislators who fled the state. Paxton has also sought to remove 13 of the Democrats who broke quorum.
The accusations of bribery coming from Paxton are ironic, O'Rourke points out. Paxton himself was impeached in 2023, before the Texas Senate acquitted him on all 16 charges.
"Ken Paxton was impeached for bribery by a majority of the Texas House of Representatives, including members of his own party," O'Rourke said. "There is this Joseph Goebbels line that seems to have influenced (Paxton): Goebbels said, 'accuse the other side of that which you are guilty.' That is what is happening now."
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:[email protected]; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Beto O’Rourke launches national push to fight Trump-backed map changes
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