Kane County Democrats welcome Texas lawmakers who fled to Illinois

Texas Democrats who fled to Illinois aiming to stop Republicans from a Congressional district remapping spoke via Zoom Wednesday night at a special meeting of the Kane County Democratic Women.

Some 130 Democrats – including men – nearly filled the meeting room at Carmina’s Mexican Restaurant and Banquets in Elgin.

“We’re having a special meeting tonight to honor our friends from Texas,” Kane Democratic Women Chair Carolyn Bird-Salazar said.

By preventing a quorum in the Texas state legislature, the Texas lawmakers disrupted a redistricting plan they said would give President Donald Trump too much power with five more Republicans in the House.

The original plan was for the Texas lawmakers to attend the Women’s meeting in person.

State Reps. Matt Hanson, D-Montgomery and Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake give their support to Texas lawmakers who fled to Illinois to avoid a quorum that would lead to gerrymandering. (Brenda Schory)

But after a bomb threat Wednesday morning at the Q Center in St. Charles, where some of them were staying, Bird-Salazar said the Texans would appear via Zoom out of concern for their safety.

Texas state Rep. Josey Garcia, of Austin, was first to appear on a laptop Zoom connection.

“We’re fighting for freedom ... and fighting for democracy,” Garcia said. “And it is being violated before our eyes.”

Texas Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Gervin-Hawkins said when she thinks about democracy and women, she recalls the fight for suffrage and “the day when we didn’t have rights.”

“We have got to fight to preserve women’s rights,” said. “The cheat is going on. Our president, he told our governor he wants five Congressional seats, not just now, but into the future. ... Our governor has bent the knee.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called for Texas lawmakers who fled to be arrested and to be expelled from office.

Abbott said on Wednesday, according to published reports: “Those who are out of state think that they are beyond the reach of Texas law enforcement, and they may or may not be. But for one, when they come back, they’re not going to go to their cozy home; they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol.”

“But know this,” Abbott continued, “It’s my understanding that the FBI is going to search for these derelict Texas House members, in whatever state they may be in, and help identify them – and maybe work with us to bring them back.”

Gerwin-Hawkins told the group in Elgin, however, that changing legislative districts without proper public hearings or an avenue for voters’ voices is undemocratic.

“We in Texas understand the immigration problem,” Gervin-Hawkins said. “There is a right way to handle these things, but taking people off the street when they leave immigration hearings and with masks on – that’s wrong. We do not want our children to think this is normal.”

Other Texas lawmakers who spoke via Zoom were Mary Ann Perez, Jolanda Jones and Charlene Ward-Johnson of Houston; Liz Campos of San Antonio and Lulu Flores of Austin.

They noted the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and said the fight against gerrymandering in Texas is a fight everywhere to protect minority representation; and they cautioned about the risk of a president controlling all three branches of government.