Football Fever Sacks a Texas Remap

With a big Texas football weekend underway, state House Democrats took advantage of low legislative attendance and again broke a quorum in their battle to block congressional redistricting.

The lawmakers’ disappearance Friday night meant the House -- which already had approved a Republican redistricting bill -- could not vote on a government reorganization bill sought by some senators. Senate Republicans had refused to vote on the redistricting measure until the House passed the unrelated reorganization bill.

When word of the Senate plan began to spread, most House Democrats bolted, banking on enough Republicans leaving town for the Texas-Oklahoma football game to derail action due to lack of a quorum.

After attempts to round up fleeing lawmakers failed, the House adjourned until today. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Republicans decided to wait to vote on new congressional district boundaries favoring the GOP.

Both the House and Senate are to meet today, and there was optimism that the House would have a quorum, Bob Richter, spokesman for House Speaker Tom Craddick, said.

The weekend delay was another strange twist in a six-month redistricting saga that included quorum-breaking by 51 House Democrats who fled to Oklahoma in May and by 11 senators who hid in New Mexico over the summer.

Democrats hold a 17-15 edge in the congressional delegation and want to keep district lines drawn by a court in 2001. Republicans say they should have the majority in the delegation.