What follows is an interview conducted by AFP’s James Edwards with former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) about the redistricting standoff in Texas.
James Edwards: A GOP plan in Texas to redraw the state’s congressional maps, which could result in up to five additional U.S. House seats in newly formed Republican districts, is currently taking place. The ramifications of this are quite significant. This isn’t just about flipping a seat; it’s about creating new ones that Republicans are almost certain to win. To prevent this from happening, Democratic lawmakers fled the state to avoid a quorum and are now facing arrest. Rep. Stockman, is that an accurate description of the current controversy in your state?
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Former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman: In Texas, like every state, we redraw the district lines after the census. I went through two redistricting processes during my time in office. We even had a court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that our districts were unconstitutional, leading to a mid-year redistricting.
Some people may recall Tom “The Hammer” DeLay. What he did, which I thought was brilliant, was to challenge the notion of having districts that were 80% Republican. Every Republican wants the district to be heavily in their favor, as it makes elections easier to win.
However, DeLay advocated for 55% Republican districts. He believed that, if candidates couldn’t win at that level, they didn’t deserve to be in office. As a result, he pushed for redrawn district lines, allowing us to pick up extra seats.
However, after DeLay’s departure, they redrew the districts back to 80 percent Republican, which was a mistake. If they had appropriately redrawn the lines from the start, we could have had these five extra seats all along. But they hesitated and failed to draw them correctly. Now they are redrawing them again, and the Democrats are, once more, in a state of panic.
It’s essential to understand that our state legislature convenes only every other year, and members receive a modest annual salary of $7,000. Therefore, most have to maintain full-time paying jobs.
When they flee the state, as they have done in an effort to keep a quorum from being obtained, they are leaving behind jobs and families. They can’t hold out forever. It’s two weeks before the session will end; it’s a special session, and I can guarantee you that the governor will simply call another session.
They will have to flee again, and, eventually, for financial reasons and others, they won’t be able to hold out any longer. We only need 10 members to reach a quorum; we don’t need all 50. We have enough House Republicans that, if we get 10, we can achieve a quorum.
Edwards: There is so much to unpack here. What is your response to the Democratic legislators who have fled to Illinois and other states to deny a quorum and prevent the vote from taking place?
Stockman: It’s amusing to think about it. My favorite moment was when the governor of Massachusetts stood up and said that if Texans are going to do this, then they will do it too. Everyone cheered, but the issue is that they’ve gerrymandered Massachusetts so badly that there isn’t a single Republican left. I found it quite ironic that they are grandstanding and lying, because places like Massachusetts, California, and Illinois, where many are fleeing, are already gerrymandered.
By the way, the term “gerrymandering” comes from a Democratic politician named Elbridge Gerry, who drew a district that resembled a salamander, hence the name. In fact, I believe it also originated in Massachusetts.
Here are the individuals involved in gerrymandering districts against Republicans, yet they are outraged when Republicans do it. This is a classic case of Marxism, where they accuse you of what they are doing and then get really angry when you respond in kind. It’s like them saying that you can’t prosecute Barack Obama—he was a president, after all.
They have cheated in other ways, too. Many people are not aware of this. During the census, they overcounted several Democrat states like California and Illinois. So, they messed up the Electoral College count. There’s something even more significant: they also counted undocumented immigrants—an approach that Trump is looking into—which could lead California to lose a number of congressional seats. This change would significantly alter the entire electoral process for the presidency. The more seats that are allocated to Republican states, the more likely it is for a Republican to win the presidency. This is a significant issue.
Edwards: There must be mechanisms in place that prevent fleeing from being an effective strategy; otherwise, either party in any state facing a potential loss could simply exit temporarily until the situation blows over. The idea of a party on the losing side of a vote fleeing a state seems almost like the plot of a movie.
But you don’t see any possible scenario where they can just hold out for so long that they actually prevent this from taking place, thus preventing the new districts from being established before the midterms?
Stockman: I mentioned previously that they only receive $7,000 a year, which is a lot less than what they’d earn at McDonald’s. And they need to have 50 holdouts. We only need about a dozen of them to return, and I just don’t see them all being able to hold out for that long. They have families and responsibilities. Many of them own businesses, such as insurance companies, or are lawyers. Some may have to go to court.
At some point, some of them will need to come home; it won’t be feasible for all of them to stay away indefinitely. Gov. Greg Abbott will call another special session if this one expires, and at least 10 or 12 lawmakers will eventually return.
Edwards: Could they return to work and just not go to the state capitol? Is that possible?
Stockman: No, if they do that, we would arrest them. They would get arrested and then be handcuffed and taken back to their seats in the Capitol. That’s why they fled the state. They had to get out of Texas.
The polls indicate that many feel the Democrats aren’t fighting hard enough. So, even if it’s just for appearances, they have to show that they are fighting. I believe it is theater. They’re engaging in what I would call kabuki theater. It’s purely for the purpose of pleasing their base.
In Texas, they have fled before. People don’t realize that. They made a big fuss, left for a while, and then eventually came back to vote. They are always pulling stunts like this, but, ultimately, they won’t be able to stop it.
Edwards: As you say, some legislators are middle-class and are not fabulously wealthy. Therefore, when they are fined $500 a day, as mentioned by the governor’s office, those numbers add up quickly. But if they are successful in redrawing the lines to create these five new Republican districts, when would the new representatives take office? Would it be during the midterms or in 2028?
Stockman: The election would be in November of 2026. Candidates would have to file this November, or roughly three months from now. They would take their seats in January of 2027. This thing is going to move incredibly fast.
Currently, our advantage in the House is only a handful of seats. If we lose those seats, we could lose control of the House and, subsequently, Trump’s presidency, which illustrates the dramatic impact this situation in Texas could have across the country.
If prospective candidates are smart, they should start preparing now because the district map has already been released. Everyone is aware of what the map will look like for voting, and they understand that it will soon become law. Many people are likely already gathering the necessary data; this isn’t something that will catch interested parties off guard.
Edwards: Interestingly, it’s not just the Republicans who have districts that lean in their favor in Texas, particularly in Houston. The late Sheila Jackson Lee’s district resembles a Jackson Pollock painting, with an ink splatter effect. Have you ever wondered how this came to be?
Stockman: I can tell you exactly what happened there. To provide some background, Lee was first elected in 1994, which was the same year I was first elected. Of course, she recently passed away from cancer, so she is no longer in Congress. But when she was in office, the Republicans drew a map to abolish her district, which made her furious. She threatened everyone, and, as a result, the Republicans backed down.
This illustrates a difference between Democrats and Republicans. If the shoe were on the other foot, the Democrats would never help a conservative. They would dismiss such threats and just tell us to shut up, but the Republicans went out of their way to accommodate her.
This kindness is the reason she was able to maintain her position for decades.
Look at how they treated Donald Trump. When Trump said, “lock her up,” he could have easily locked up Hillary Clinton, but he chose not to because he didn’t want to run an administration that way.
Instead of thanking him for that, they went after him. This pattern continues; we never treat them the way they treat us.
Edwards: Thank you for helping us break down the unfolding political drama in Texas. To reiterate, you do believe that there will be a favorable outcome sooner rather than later, correct?
Stockman: I expect this will be resolved when Gov. Abbott calls for the second or third special session. He will call the next special session immediately following this one, and that’s when the real pressure will begin.
These new seats will help Republicans retain control of the House, which will, in turn, support Trump in completing his term without facing another impeachment. By the way, they have claimed that is exactly what they plan to do. They mentioned that, if they regain control of the House, they will begin investigating Trump again.
It’s astonishing how advanced their PTDS (President Trump Derangement Syndrome) has become. It’s actually unbelievable.
James Edwards is the outspoken host of The Political Cesspool, one of America’s most potent talk radio programs. He has made numerous television guest appearances and his work as a political commentator over the past two decades has been the subject of articles in hundreds of print publications and media broadcasts around the world. Visit ThePoliticalCesspool.org for more info.
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