A warning for Florida: Illinois judge humiliates Texas GOP as Democrats’ escape plan wins big
In their effort to pressure absent Democratic members to return to Texas for a high-stakes redistricting struggle, Texas Republicans have suffered a major blow from an Illinois court. This verdict could have an impact on similar initiatives planned in Florida.
On Wednesday, Judge Scott Larson of Illinois’ Eighth Circuit Court turned down Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to serve civil arrest warrants against Texas House Democrats who fled to Illinois to stop a GOP-led proposal that may give Republicans up to five more U.S. House seats. Larson wrote in a very harsh order that his court did not have the authority to approve the motion since the warrants were “geographically limited” and only went to the sergeant at arms of the Texas House of Representatives.
Larson stressed that Illinois courts do not have the “inherent power” to let state law enforcement or officers nominated by the Texas House temporarily hold nonresidents in Illinois. Democrats and legal experts have been saying from the start that Paxton’s bid would run into jurisdictional hurdles, so that position was not surprising.
Texas Republicans used Paxton’s filing as one of many ways to try to get the Democrats to stop walking out. Similar legal efforts in California, where some of the absent lawmakers appeared alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, have also faced skepticism. This week, the Texas Supreme Court didn’t immediately weigh in on another GOP move to remove some lawmakers from office. Instead, they set a September 4 deadline for comments, which might mean that any ruling won’t be made for weeks.
Read also: Nightmare for Florida lawmakers, Gov. DeSantis: Judge struck down a controversial election law
It looks like Texas Democrats have been able to stop the passage of new congressional maps drawn by the GOP during the current 30-day special session. Gov. Greg Abbott has already said he will summon another session, possibly as soon as Friday. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows has told members to be ready to meet again and work through the weekend.
While the conflict remains unresolved in Texas, its broader implications are being widely examined in Florida, where Republican leaders are debating their own mid-decade redistricting.
The Florida House Speaker, Daniel Perez, recently started a Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting. This is unique because the state’s latest maps were drawn only four years ago under Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Florida Supreme Court approved that approach earlier this summer. It gave Republicans a strong 20–8 lead in the state’s 28 congressional seats.
Critics warn that drawing new maps before the 2026 midterms would be like what is happening in Texas: it would give the GOP more power while making it harder for minorities to have a voice. Advocates for voting rights have said that DeSantis’ earlier design broke up a district in North Florida that was mostly Black, and that any mid-cycle redraw might make those differences even worse.
DeSantis has said that the change is fair and accurate because of population changes since the 2020 census. He called the current districts “malapportioned.” He says that Florida’s fast growth and migratory patterns make a mid-decade adjustment necessary.
But the Illinois decision in the Texas case could be an early caution for Florida Republicans about how far they can go with harsh enforcement. If Florida Democrats used a walkout plan like this to stop new maps, GOP leaders may have the same problems with jurisdiction if they sought to follow lawmakers across state lines.
The political risk is also high. Mid-decade redistricting is rare in both Texas and Florida, and it will probably lead to quick court challenges. Legal fights might push down the use of new maps until the 2026 election cycle, which could hurt the very advances Republicans are trying to make.
Democrats have already used the Texas deadlock as a rallying point. Texas Rep. Gene Wu claimed that their walkout had “helped inspire” other Democratic-led states to look at their own map initiatives in response. Florida Democrats now have a new illustration of how legal barriers can make it harder for law enforcement from other states to do their jobs.
Read also: DeSantis is set to make things hard for Trump allies in Florida and is ready for high-profile war
With control of the U.S. House perhaps resting on only a few seats, the redistricting fights in both states are shaping up to be major political confrontations. Texas Republicans may have just realized how hard it is to chase their enemies across state lines. Florida may be the next state to test those limits.
