AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats prepared for a final show of resistance against a Republican effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps mid-decade, with plans to push a Senate vote into the early morning hours Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to delay final passage.
State Sen. Carol Alvarado, leader of the Senate Democratic caucus, had announced on social media that she planned to filibuster the bill with a long speech and intended to speak for several hours in a last-ditch attempt to push off the final vote. But just when she expected to start, the Senate broke for a long dinner break, pushing her off until nearly midnight.
Alvarado’s delay tactics are the latest chapter in a weekslong showdown that has roiled the Texas Legislature, marked by a Democratic walkout and threats of arrest from Republicans. While much of the drama has unfolded in the House — where the map ultimately passed on Wednesday — Democrats are mounting one last breath of resistance as the maps move toward likely approval.
“Republicans think they can walk all over us. Today I’m going to kick back,” Alvarado wrote on social media Friday. “I’ve submitted my intention to filibuster the new congressional maps. Going to be a long night.”
