REPATRIATED

Three Texas Democrats Return to House Floor, End Effort to Block Voting Laws

Democratic state lawmakers in Texas fled the state 38 days ago, most for Washington, D.C.

Three Democratic Texas lawmakers returned to the state House floor Thursday, allowing the legislature to reach a quorum and ending their party’s effort to block restrictive Republican-backed legislation on voting rights. Democratic members of the House fled the state 38 days ago to break quorum and block the passage of the bill. Reps. Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez, and Armando Walle, all Democrats, said in a joint statement that they were “proud of the heroic work” of the boycott and vowed to “continue the fight on the House floor.” They cited the catastrophic surge in COVID-19 cases and the need to manage the crisis as their reason for coming back. The controversial voting rights bill has already passed in the state Senate, and a House hearing is now slated for Saturday with the return of the lawmakers. Even with the three Democrats voting no, the bill is expected to pass. Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, also a Democrat, tweeted that she had not expected the move: “We were literally on caucus calls for 2 hours this morning and none of the defecting Democrats mentioned they were planning on helping the Republicans pass voter suppression bills.”