Texas Democratic state Representative Ann Johnson mocked her fellow Texan, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, during an interview with CBS alongside several of her Democratic colleagues as Democrats face attacks from Republicans after leaving the state to avoid voting on a new heavily-gerrymandered redistricting map.
Texas holds 38 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, Republicans control 25 of those seats, while Democrats hold 12, with one seat vacant following the death of a Democratic member.
Under the newly proposed map, Republicans would gain five additional seats after the 2026 midterm elections—making it significantly more difficult for Democrats to reclaim the majority and potentially blunt the president’s legislative priorities.
By leaving, the Democrats are denying Republicans a quorum—the minimum number of lawmakers required to conduct legislative business—echoing a similar tactic they used during the 2003 midcycle redistricting battle. This time, most members traveled to Democratic-led states like Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
Responding to accusations that Democrats are "running away from the fight" by leaving Texas, Johnson took aim at Cruz:
"Yeah, no, abandoning your job is going to Cancun in the middle of a deadly freeze, right? Abandoning your job is cutting healthcare when people need access. Abandoning your job is cutting public education when we already have one of the worst education systems in the nation."
Johnson was referencing the time Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people died as a result of the crisis.
You can hear what Johnson said in the video below.
She continued with a succinct explanation for why Democrats have chosen to take the drastic step of leaving the state for the time being:
"What we are doing is the fundamental protection by our Founding Fathers in the Texas Constitution that says the minority party has the opportunity to break quorum when you know that the majority has really gone off the rails."
"The fact that Texas Republicans are willing to sell their soul, sell out their state, and sell out the American people to serve the interest of Donald Trump and give him five seats at a time when we know he is afraid of voters voting on his policies next November in 2026."
"When Donald Trump called Georgia Republicans and said, 'I just need you to find me 11,000 votes,' they said, 'No, sir, that's a step too far.' But when he called Texas Republicans and said, 'I need you to steal me five seats,' they said, 'Does July work for you?'"
"Well, it doesn't work for us as Texas Democrats. This is not just about our voters, it's about the nation. And it's important for people to know they have threatened us personally. They have threatened our arrest, they have threatened our jobs, they have threatened us."
"The solution is if we show up today at 3 o'clock and sit and be quiet, then we get to keep ours. But it kills the voice of everybody in this country. And so, we won't. We won't sit and shut up to have them shut up the voices of voters."
Many appreciated Johnson's level-headed response—and also echoed her criticisms of Cruz.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott accused Democrats of having "hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business." Abbott also hinted at pursuing felony charges against Democrats, alleging that some individuals "may have violated bribery laws."
James Talarico, a Democratic state Representative, said those who chose to break quorum weighed the consequences of their decision and left the state anyway because "it was a necessary one, because Donald Trump is essentially rigging the midterm elections next year."
Talarico said quorum breakers are “committed to killing this power grab.”
