Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke and other Texas Democrats rallied in Fort Worth Saturday in opposition to Republican efforts to redraw the state's congressional districts — including lawmakers who fled the state to prevent a vote on redistricting, many of whom joined the event virtually.
The rally, dubbed "The People vs. The Power Grab," highlighted efforts by Texas House Democrats who left the state to prevent the passage of newly proposed congressional maps with the potential to give President Donald Trump five new GOP-controlled seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Hundreds of supporters filled the Ridglea Theater to hear from O'Rourke and other Democrats. Among them was Alex Torres who called GOP attempts to gerrymander parts of the state "atrocious and awful."
"I fully support the Democrats breaking quorum to try and stop the vote for as long as possible, and hopefully the rest of us can also rally behind them and show our support," Torres told KERA.
Bill Cameron drove to Fort Worth from rural Waxahachie to attend the rally. He called the GOP's efforts "extremely unethical" after lines were redrawn following the 2020 census.
"To me there shouldn't be a valid reason for trying to do it again midterm," Cameron said. "I've always disliked the whole concept of of gerrymandering."
While the quorum-breaking House Democrats weren't in attendance, they nonetheless took part in the event. State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, the House Democratic leader, joined via video call that was streamed onto a large screen on stage. He was on a bus with many of the other Democrats, and thanked the assembled crowd. State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth also called in.
The move to break quorum by many in the state's minority party has drawn harsh criticism from Republican leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott — who has pushed to oust them from the legislature — but was met with cheers and applause from the assembled crowd at the Ridglea Saturday.
"These Republicans are running scared," O'Rourke told the packed theater. "They're in full panic mode. That is why Greg Abbott is trying to remove these House Democrats from office. That's why he's threatening to charge them with second-degree felonies. That's why he's threatening to hunt them down with state troopers."
O'Rourke and other speakers urged those in attendance and watching online through a livestream to donate to those Democrats, who are being fined $500 each day they purposefully break quorum. Without them, the Texas House of Representatives does not have enough people present to vote on the redistricting measure.
But after a court ruling Friday evening, it's not clear how much O'Rourke and his group Powered by People can donate directly. A Tarrant County judge issued a temporary restraining order against O'Rourke and Powered by People, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused them of misleading donors. Powered by People is a top contributor to the Democrats who left the state to prevent the passage of new maps.
According to Paxton, the group claimed contributions would be used for political purposes, but were instead used for "lavish personal expenditures" like private jets, luxury hotels and fine dining. O'Rourke, in turn, sued Paxton in El Paso County District Court.
"He tried to stop us from holding this rally here today in Fort Worth," O'Rourke said Saturday. "He tried to stop us from raising money to support these Democrats in the fight. He lost."
To close observers, the venues for the dueling lawsuits are unsurprising. El Paso is O'Rourke's political and literal home base, where he was raised, served on the city council, and later represented in Congress. The judge in Tarrant County, meanwhile, is an Abbott appointee, and the county has traditionally been a Republican stronghold — though that has shifted in recent years.
The choice in venue wasn't lost on Alisa Simmons, a Democrat on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court who herself has been the target of GOP redistricting. New maps in Tarrant County would move Democratic voters out of her precinct and concentrate them in a precinct represented by the only other Democrat on the court.
Simmons, who is Black, criticized Paxton's lawsuit as well as what she and others have referred to as a racially motivated redistricting effort.
"Where was it filed? Tarrant fricking County," Simmons told the crowd. "I mean, where else did y'all expect in Texas for the damn lawsuit against Beto to be filed? Because apparently we are the test ground, the proving ground for every racist idea that happens in Texas."
U.S. Congressman Marc Veasey, whose district that represents parts of Tarrant and Dallas county would be eliminated if Republicans succeed, also called on leaders in Democratic-led states to redraw their own districts in order to gain an advantage.
"Get to redrawing their asses out in Illinois, get to redrawing their asses out in New York," Veasey told the crowd.
O'Rourke echoed those remarks.
"Listen, you may say to yourself, well, those aren't the rules. There are no refs in this game," O'Rourke said. "We are going to win, whatever it takes.
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