Texas Lawmakers, Dueling 1,300 Miles Apart, Map Out Next Voting Moves

After fleeing to Washington, Democratic state lawmakers began lobbying Congress to push for major voting rights legislation. Back in Austin, Republicans promised to ultimately pass their elections overhaul.

WASHINGTON — Texas lawmakers traveled down starkly divergent political paths on Tuesday, as Republicans in Austin signaled their intention to push forward with an overhaul of the state’s election system while Democrats who had fled the state a day earlier began lobbying lawmakers in Congress to pass comprehensive federal voting rights legislation. While Democrats celebrated their success in temporarily delaying the Republican bill, they confronted a much bigger long-term challenge: There is little the party can do to stop Republicans from ultimately passing a wide array of voting restrictions, with Gov. Greg Abbott vowing to call “special session after special session after special session” until an election bill is passed. But Democrats, as long as they remain away from Texas, appear likely to be able to hold off the G.OP. effort for now. Chris Turner, the Democratic leader in the Texas State House, said that 57 members of the party’s delegation were now absent from Austin, more than the 51 necessary to stop business from proceeding. They have pledged to remain in Washington for the duration of the Texas session, and Republicans do not appear to have a legal way to bring them back from Washington.