While Texas House Democrats are still missing in action, Republican state Sen. Mayes Middleton filed a bill to dump the delinquent legislators from office.
“When Texans don’t show up for work, they get fired,” Middleton told The Dallas Express. “The same thing should apply to these Democrats that have fled to Illinois.”
Democrat state representatives fled on Sunday, stalling Republican-friendly redistricting during the special session, as The Dallas Express reported. Speaker Dustin Burrows issued arrest warrants on Monday, and Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers to arrest them and return them to the state capitol.
Middleton filed SB 62 the same day, which would vacate from office any state legislator with seven unexcused consecutive absences. Officials would call a special election to replace them. The bill has yet to advance to committee.
If two-thirds of the state Senate and state House vote to pass the bill, it will take effect immediately. But if not, it will take effect 91 days after passage.
Middleton told The Dallas Express that once legislators reestablish quorum, this would apply to any state Democratic seats that remain vacant after the bill takes effect. He also said this could prevent similar delays in the future.
“Moving forward, it’s explicitly clear in our law that after seven days of not showing up to work, your office is vacant,” Middleton said. “But that’s on top of what we can already do, and should do, right now.”
Middleton applauded Abbott’s recent order to arrest the delinquent Democrats and return them to the House. He also pointed to Abbott’s recent directive to the Texas Rangers to investigate them for potential bribery.
Middleton cited Texas Penal Code 36.02 and said the Democrats may have committed “multiple felonies and bribery.”
“If they accept a benefit in order, and on the condition that they would not vote, and would deny quorum for the redistricting bill,” he said, “that seems like a pretty open and shut case to me.”
There is currently a “call of the House,” according to Middleton. Once the Democrats are returned, legislators can “reestablish a quorum and conduct business again.”
The Democrats are currently holding up bills like flood relief, the Women’s Privacy Act, the ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying, and redistricting, which Middleton said is particularly important to national politics, adding five more Texas Republicans to Congress. He said he would “not back down.”
“This could be the difference in the next Congress, in 2027, whether or not we’re able to pass President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda,” Middleton said. “Texas has the opportunity right now to potentially save the entire country with this redistricting bill.”
Middleton drew backlash Monday for asking on social media if Democrat state Rep. Gene Wu is “back in China.”
He told The Dallas Express he did not mean anything racial by the comment, but meant to point to Wu’s record of supporting communist China.
Wu was one of the main opponents of measures to keep the Chinese Communist Party from buying Texas land, both in 2023 and 2025, according to Middleton. He also called on Wu to apologize to President Donald Trump, after the Democrat apparently wished he died of COVID – “Hard to serve a prison sentence if you’re dead.”
“This is about putting Texas first, about putting America first,” Middleton said.
He criticized the truant Democrats for fleeing to Illinois to protest gerrymandering. Illinois redistricted in 2022, apparently gerrymandering several districts to maximize Democrat victories.
“They’ve run away to one of the most corrupt and gerrymandered states in the nation, Illinois,” Middleton said. “Frankly, it’s a dereliction of duty.”
“The message is simple – you’ve abandoned your duties, you’ve abandoned your office, and we need to find representatives that will do what they said they were going to do, and show up to work,” Middleton said.