Sam Parker wears an outfit from "The Handmaid's Tale" as she protests the confinement of Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, outside the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Texas Democrats are joining a colleague who can't leave the state Capitol because she won't agree to having law enforcement officers shadow her.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.

Democrats say these new recruits are uniquely suited to break through in districts where President Donald Trump’s popularity remains dominant.

While a general notion behind drawing districts is to unite what’s called communities of interest — neighborhoods and cities that share similar concerns or demographic traits — the proposed

Republican leaders said that if they can't reach a quorum again at 10 a.m., both the House and Senate will wrap up the special session.

But in some of the nation’s biggest Senate races, Democrats are relying on an old strategy of recruiting—and then clearing the field for—long-serving party leaders with whom voters are already familiar.

Former President Barack Obama praised a group of Texas Democratic lawmakers for fleeing their state to stop a vote on a redistricting bill, calling their actions “inspiring."