Greg Abbott threatens to remove Democratic lawmakers from office if they don t show up for a vote on a proposed Redistricting bill in Texas. What does this mean for the future of the state of Texas? What will happen if they do show up? And what will the governor do about it? To find out what's going on, we speak with producer Andrew "Tate" Brown.
00:01:36.440Greg Abbott threatens to remove Dem lawmakers from office if they don't show up for the redistricting vote.
00:01:40.700A standoff is intensifying in Texas after more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers fled the state to block a vote on a redistricting proposal.
00:01:49.040Republican Governor Greg Abbott warned late Sunday that he would pursue legal action to remove the lawmakers from office if they fail to return to Austin by Monday, August 4, 2025, to vote on the proposal.
00:01:59.380Abbott's pressure follows a walkout by Democrats seeking to deny the Texas House a quorum, the minimum number of legislators required to conduct business.
00:02:07.040By leaving the state, Democrats effectively froze all legislative activity during a special session set to expire later this month.
00:02:14.520Their primary objective was to halt a GOP-drawn congressional map that could secure five additional U.S. House seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
00:02:24.420We obviously have the statement here from Greg Abbott.
00:02:27.860At the end here, he discusses, in addition to abandoning their offices, these legislators may have also committed felonies.
00:02:34.800Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines that they will incur under House rules.
00:02:40.040Greg Abbott's going in. He's not playing around.
00:02:42.640We need to talk to Tony. We need to figure the situation out.
00:02:45.460So, we've got Producer Andrew here. He's going to get Tony roped in here.
00:05:20.260And we've broken several big scandals that have made nationwide news quite a few times, even just recently.
00:05:26.760So we're kind of like a National Enquirer or a TMZ of Texas politics covering, like, cheating affairs and other types of those similar type scandals across Texas and the politicians.
00:05:46.740Is this something that Abbott's been thinking about doing for a while, or is there some truth to that, that Trump's really the one putting the pressure on Abbott?
00:05:54.700There's probably some truth behind that, right?
00:05:56.980Abbott's the, you know, Abbott and especially Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick are very close with Trump, Patrick especially.
00:06:03.480And they want to be in his favor, right?
00:06:06.100Maybe they're going for some cabinet positions.
00:06:08.120You know, Abbott has long been rumored as wanting to run for president one day.
00:06:12.360He's been governor for quite a long time.
00:06:14.420And so it doesn't surprise me that they're just gearing up to kind of secure the elections going forward.
00:06:20.440You know, Democrats do this all the time.
00:06:22.080It's kind of ironic that our – the Democrat reps in Texas have taken off to two different states.
00:06:27.420Some went to Illinois and some went to New York, which are some of the most gerrymandering districts in the United States.
00:06:33.140So it's kind of ironic that they're upset about gerrymandering, but they're literally going to the Democrat states that are the worst for it.
00:06:40.300And so Democrats have – and I think you know this – Democrats have done a really good job of when they get power, they execute on that power.
00:06:59.280And now we're seeing kind of a change in policy where Republicans in Texas have won, and now we're flexing our power to get better districts.
00:07:08.060Yeah, we saw there was a rep in California who was, like, doing the whole my principal's routine where he was like, oh, we don't want to start a redistricting war.
00:07:18.100And it's, like, the most Republican thing ever that we're actually finally starting to use our power and flex it.
00:07:24.860And then these, like, hall monitors come along.
00:07:26.680These self-appointed HR managers come along and say, guys, guys, hey, wait, wait a second.
00:07:31.960Because, I mean, what's going to happen is that guy is going to lose his seat if Abbott pushes forward because in California they're going to redistrict and try and wipe out whatever Republican seats they haven't gerrymandered away yet.
00:07:42.120Yeah, the funny thing about California, they're attempting – or they're threatening to redistrict.
00:07:46.520But what's interesting about California is they have a – California's rules or elections for redistricting are based off an independent group and an independent redistricting system.
00:07:59.000And so in order for – I think Gavin Newsom has threatened to redistrict California.
00:08:02.560In order for him to do that and execute on that, not only will it – actually, it's going to require a special election that requires voter approval to modify the independent redistricting system.
00:08:14.360So he's going to have to call an election.
00:08:16.440People are going to have to vote for it and modify their existing rules.
00:08:20.740And it's looking – people are estimating it's going to cost over $200 million just to do it.
00:08:43.760It's going to be a test of Gavin Newsom's effectiveness to be Democrat leaders if he can really stir up a good narrative for Democrats in California as to why they should get rid of this.
00:08:53.140I don't – it's quite fascinating, like I kind of touched on earlier, to see this.
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00:09:56.760This mentality from Republicans to get really nervous when we start winning a little too much.
00:10:04.440You know, we're seeing this with that rep.
00:10:08.500Trump's the one that's obviously led the charge of, you know, wiping those people out from the GOP.
00:10:15.180It seems like Texas does produce quite a good number of effective politicians.
00:10:20.800What do you think it is about Texas that does?
00:10:22.520Because you see this thing with these deep red states like South Carolina, they actually produce pretty horrible Republicans because I think they know it's such a safe seat that it doesn't really fire people up so they don't feel the need to run.
00:10:33.120And then you see these like swing districts where like, you know, Republicans lose half the time and they produce these like rock star candidates.
00:11:06.940And as far as like things that we've gotten past, I mean, it was just, I think, two sessions ago that we got constitutional carry for handguns and for not or whatnot.
00:11:16.840So, like, we're not as conservatives as we should be, right?
00:11:21.160We're definitely better than most, but not as good as we should be.
00:11:25.040You know, grassroots activists in Texas would cite that we have a lot of rhinos, right?
00:11:29.980And that does seem to be a problem that we have a lot of like very soft, squishy Republicans.
00:11:34.120But as you mentioned, Trump's kind of been at the top charging and leading the narrative to kind of bully and lead the charge on Republicans and conservatives being a little more active with what they're doing rather than sitting back and letting Democrats walk all over them.
00:11:48.060Yeah, I mean, most people have said that Texas, and it's true, that Texas, it really is kind of the linchpin of this MAGA movement because, I mean, the amount of electoral seats that are at stake.
00:11:57.540Like, obviously, there's a lot of concern from Texans of the state going blue with out-of-state migration.
00:12:02.960I've pointed out previously that there is exit polling, for example, the Cruz versus Beto Senate race, where it actually looked like out-of-state voters voted Republican and native Texans voted Democrat.
00:12:14.180Have you noticed some of these trends?
00:12:16.140Have these, maybe these trends have changed since then?
00:12:18.220I mean, what do you suspect would be the future of Texas?
00:12:21.120Yeah, I'm so glad you mentioned that because so very few people know that polling.
00:12:24.560It's 100% true that we found that, like, native Texans vote Democrat more than out-of-state.
00:12:31.140We are seeing a trend of people that come here, and they are aware of the reasons why they come to Texas, and they start voting Republican, right?
00:12:42.460The state is, as far as demographics goes, Hispanics are now, I think, the majority in Texas, and whites are now the minority, which is funny.
00:12:50.120You've got to wonder if they're going to change, if whites will start to be able to capitalize on minority benefits and stuff.
00:13:00.200The narrative from Democrats is now like, oh, this redistricting, we can't do it because it's racist towards the Latinos and the blacks.
00:13:07.980And it's very silly messaging because we're starting to – for them, because Latinos are starting to trend more towards Trump.
00:13:16.020The Democrat base has lost the Hispanic vote.
00:13:20.100And we can go into hours as to why they've done that.
00:13:23.020But they basically just have white liberals and blacks left as far as a voting base.
00:13:28.380Yeah, well, I mean, we saw the huge swing in the Rio Grande Valley just in the last – really just since the Trump era, in the Trump era.
00:13:38.500There are some fears that when you pick off groups that were not previously Republican or were previously hardcore Democrat, that you do have to concede on some issues.
00:13:47.860I think so people are a bit fearful that if you really push hard for the Hispanic vote, that you maybe have to lighten your messaging on immigration.
00:13:54.880But if anything, Trump was the most anti-illegal immigration candidate probably in the modern era, I would say for sure in the modern era, and Hispanics turned out in huge numbers.
00:14:05.740I mean, what kind of dynamics is the Texas GOP experimenting with, especially in the Rio Grande Valley?
00:14:11.720Yeah, I think when it comes to Hispanics that can vote, so legal Hispanics, they are probably the most anti-immigration, probably more than white people, actually.
00:14:22.620I think the trend is like Hispanics come here.
00:14:26.880They either – they're born here and they appreciate being here, the ones that can vote, right, or they work hard to get here and make a good life.
00:14:35.880And so that the ones that just hop the border and skip the line and break the laws, they make them look bad, right, and they want them out of here.
00:14:45.220I don't want – it's a – I'm a Hispanic, and it's a sense of embarrassment to see these Hispanics that hop over here and commit crimes or other sexual deviant acts on young children, and they make an embarrassment of them, of themselves and other people in the race.
00:15:03.180And so, yeah, they want them out of here.
00:15:05.160And I think that as far as concessions go in the Republican Party, you're not seeing too many, right?
00:15:11.640We've still been really, really hard on immigration.
00:15:13.740I haven't seen any concessions as far as to appeal to the Hispanic folk.
00:15:20.460I mean I went to high school in San Antonio, and I've been known to throw back a puffy taco every once in a while, so I'd head down to the south side of San Antonio.
00:15:29.760And you would be stunned to see some of the discussions you'd – or overhear some of the discussions at these restaurants regarding immigrants where I'm like, geez, I mean this would make Stephen Miller look like a liberal.
00:15:41.540Yeah, but the funny thing – the funny thing with Democrats is they assume that Hispanics are all like the same, right?
00:15:49.200They assume that like Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Spanish, Venezuelans are all the same.
00:15:56.400Like they're all like racist towards each other, right?
00:15:59.500Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, they all don't like each other for multiple reasons.
00:16:03.180And so when the Democrats lump them all into one giant like voting block, it does create problems, and they start to appeal to them, and then they realize it doesn't work.
00:16:13.680Whereas I think I've seen the Republican Party really hasn't tried to shill so much to Hispanics.
00:16:24.240Be a patriot rather than like trying to like lean into like the pandering.
00:16:28.940Yeah, and it's worked so well compared to like – I'm not picking on them specifically, but just from what I can recall is like Bush was like much more on the nose pandering to Hispanics, like speaking really broken Spanish and like making an enchilada.
00:16:42.780And we're like, hey, come vote for us.
00:17:42.380But that's kind of one question I want to talk about because why is it that the Hispanic vote in California and the Hispanic vote in Texas diverge so dramatically?
00:17:53.260You know, I often wonder if the vibe of California is just such a beautiful place that it just kind of makes you lazy and it just makes you kind of appreciate the weather and everything.
00:18:03.060And you're just like, oh, this is all great and life is easy and we're just going to vote Democrat.
00:18:07.080I mean I really can't – as somebody that just watches Texas, I can't really speculate too much.
00:18:12.340But you also got to wonder the conspiracy theories of like non-citizens are voting in these elections and maybe that's kind of skewing some things too.
00:18:23.120But, you know, you're seeing – I think it's – if I recall correctly, California is facing a kind of – they're a population drop.
00:18:30.080They're starting to see a population drop where Texas is increasing.
00:18:33.140So people are starting to wake up and they're leaving the state.
00:18:36.200I think it was In-N-Out just recently announced their headquarters is leaving California.
00:19:43.740I think AT&T is already committed to it as of other industries, right?
00:19:47.580There's a lot of investment in like Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining and other things like that.
00:19:52.660You have a lot of companies coming here.
00:19:54.400The biggest problems we're facing are energy, which is something that even Democrats are talking about.
00:19:59.580So that's going to be a big concern is energy and energy consumption and then water.
00:20:05.080Something that a lot of people aren't talking about enough is our lack of available water, right?
00:20:10.400Something I think that a lot of people forget, a lot of these Bitcoin mining facilities and these storage facilities, they require a lot of water to cool and to operate and we just don't have enough of it.
00:20:24.300Yeah, I mean the population growth, I think that's part of the reason that's being contributed to the necessitating the redistricting or redistricting is because the population has grown so quickly in very specific regions just in the last five years.
00:20:41.960That does necessitate a reshifting around of some of these lines.
00:20:48.000I mean, by 2030, I mean, the amount of electoral districts Texas could have, I've seen the projections, like they could pick up like four or five, especially because New York and Illinois are bleeding people left and right.
00:22:16.240Which I'm very happy to be at, but Dallas proper, the city, one of the things it faces a lot that I think any major city faces is increasing homeless and crime.
00:22:27.140And that's, of course, because it's run by Democrats.
00:22:29.380It's not legislated properly against, and it'll probably continue to get worse until it gets better.
00:23:35.540But they made this announcement on like one of the worst days to make this.
00:23:39.900We've got like all these Democrats fleeing, and they're talking about arrests and fines, and they announced like – we've got basically World War III going on here in Texas.
00:23:48.200And then he announces, oh, we've got an endorsement from Rick Perry.
00:23:51.220And so everybody's like, OK, yeah, anyway.
00:23:52.740So – but yeah, it's kind of – it's – I don't like to make predictions as a journalist too much, but it is looking like Paxson's got it in the bag minus some major scandal, and I don't know what kind of scandal it would have to be.
00:24:07.080I think that Paxson is just kind of walking into that spot.
00:24:09.940Do you think with the Paxson-Abbott, that front, do you think that – it seems the base really wants these Democrats arrested or held responsible for doing this.
00:24:19.760I mean do you think that plays well for them in upcoming elections if they are able to pull something off?
00:24:24.660Actually, I think it plays well for both parties, right?
00:24:26.880If you're a Democrat and you're seeing your rep out there like fleeing the state in order to fight against this stuff, like you're gung-ho about it, right?
00:24:34.820And I'm seeing it – my state rep is a Democrat.
00:24:37.820They're sending out text messages for fundraisers, right?
00:24:40.580All these Democrats are using this opportunity to raise money and also to – when they're up for reelection to say, you know, I'm a strong Democrat.
00:24:50.340I even fled the state to avoid this, right?
00:24:52.760And Republicans are using this as well to fundraise and to say, hey, these Democrats are horrible.
00:24:58.760You need to vote for me because I'm going to fight against this.
00:25:01.260There's already been two bills filed today by both the Senate and the House that pushes harder penalties if politicians leave for more than seven unexcused days.
00:25:14.560House Rep. Briscoe Cain filed that bill, seven unexcused absences, and they are – their office is considered vacant.
00:25:22.200And that was filed today, the irony being that we don't have a quorum, so it can't be passed.
00:25:27.800So, yeah, it's been filed, but unless the Democrats come back, nothing's going to happen.
00:25:32.960I mean, the extradition – why don't I have so much trouble saying the word – extradition that Abbott has proposed, I mean, how does that play out?
00:25:40.180Would you send the National Guard up there?
00:26:55.340But he's considering that a bribe, and they're also looking at filing charges, bribery charges against not only the reps, but also people that are giving money to the reps for being gone.
00:27:06.240So we'll see how that plays out in court.
00:27:08.920I mean, that would be a beautiful – that would play so well with the base.
00:27:11.680That would turn them into rock stars overnight.
00:27:13.560But, yeah, this tends to happen at these stories where you get really excited, and then they just kind of just show up.
00:27:19.160The bill gets passed, and then you forget about the story.
00:27:25.460What's up with the James Tallarico guy where he gets up, and he's like, if you're a Christian, you're not gay, like you're not a Christian?
00:27:32.120What is that guy – what is going on in Texas?
00:27:36.200Yeah, Tallarico is an interesting guy, right?
00:27:38.380I gauge a lot of political stuff, especially with the general voting base or at least the independent voting base based off some friends that call them some political normies.
00:27:47.420They're like normies in politics, right?
00:28:05.460Yeah, it's – you know, I don't think the Democrats have any chance of gaining any ground in Texas.
00:28:11.940They say it every year that Democrats are a threat.
00:28:13.940It's not going to happen anytime soon.
00:28:15.420But Tallarico is somebody that's likely going to run for governor one day of Texas.
00:28:19.780And, you know, he's this very odd, like leftist, huge pro-gay Democrat pastor, right, which is kind of an oxymoron in a sense.
00:28:33.820And he says a bunch of really, really crazy stuff.
00:28:36.820If you're a Christian, you just kind of – your head kind of explodes hearing him kind of make arguments for this.
00:28:41.920But, yeah, he's likely to run for governor, but he's a single man, and he's probably going to have to find a wife and kid to run just because that's the kind of thing you need nowadays to play for bigger office.
00:28:54.240And so we'll see if he can find a wife here really quickly to run for office.
00:29:05.920But, yeah, it's kind of like Beto 2.0 where they get, like, in love with this random house member, and then they try to convince everyone he's, like, the guy.
00:29:13.900And then he just ends up being really weird and, like, eats dirt and stuff.
00:29:36.740So it doesn't really matter if there's a bunch of signs or a bunch of lines in a city for a guy.
00:29:41.660It doesn't really reflect the entire voting base of Texas.
00:29:44.560Texas is so ginormous that people often forget that the rural areas, the areas that these politicians don't go to, have a massive influence on statewide elections.
00:31:04.520That's why you're seeing a lot of these companies kind of start to swing their advertising from like these disgusting, fat, androgynous models to like attractive women like the Sydney Sweeney thing, right?
00:31:16.880Because we're returning back to like some normalcy.
00:31:19.780We're finally starting to see some like real – like what people expect to see in our advertising, our movies, in our culture.
00:31:26.940And Democrats, again, if they were smart, they would embrace it.
00:31:38.020If you're a Texan watching this, you can find us at currentrevolt.com and you can subscribe there.
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