As the political standoff continues over the Republican scheme to redraw Texas’ congressional map, Democratic state legislators are speaking out about their resistance. One legislator in particular has broken down the conflict and its stakes in a recent media appearance.
Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones recently appeared in a viral clip with other Democrats who left the state in order to block the Republicans from redrawing the state’s congressional district lines in a special session of the Texas legislature. As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest the Democrats, Jones is calling his bluff. In remarks circulating on social media, Jones, a lawyer, explained that “there is no felony in the Texas penal code for what he says. Respectfully, he’s making up some s**t.” She also explained that “subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York,” where a number of the Texas Democrats had gone, or in Chicago, where many of them are currently being hosted by Illinois Democrats.
Jones calls out Republicans for ‘sham’ process
Jones, who said that she sat on the Texas redistricting committee, shed some light on the process that led to this standoff. “We had three sham hearings last, with no maps,” Jones explained, as Republicans feigned ignorance of their plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to add up to five Republican-friendly seats to the U.S. Congress ahead of next year’s midterm elections. “So you peein’ on me, and you’re telling me it’s raining, and you expecting me to believe it,” Jones said about Republicans’ denials that they had seen the gerrymandered map ahead of time.
Republicans targeting Black members of Congress
Jones explained that the Republican plan is not only blatantly partisan but also racialized as well. “Let me be clear: the districts that are targeted, overwhelmingly, are Black districts.” The new map will combine districts represented by Black members of Congress. “They are pitting Jasmine Crockett against Marc Veasey and they are pitting Al Green against CD-18,” a district that has been represented by prominent Black Democrats, including Barbara Jordan and Sheila Jackson Lee; it currently remains open after the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner, with Jones in the race to replace him.
By leaving Texas and blocking the ability of the state’s legislature to approve the new map, Texas state legislators are hoping to protect their Democratic counterparts in the U.S. Congress. Despite threats from the GOP establishment in Texas, Jones and others appear ready to call their Republican colleagues’ bluff.
