Texas Governor Greg Abbott tried to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office, but the state Supreme Court ruled against him. File Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo
May 15 (UPI) -- The Texas Supreme Court refused to remove state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, from office, despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott after the 2025 redistricting showdown.
Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, who once worked as an Abbott aide, wrote that the courts "have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves."
"The courts' institutional 'reluctance ... to involve themselves in contests of factional political power,' a reluctance we reiterate and reinforce today, is a check on the judicial power 'of ancient standing,' not an optional preference we are at liberty to discard," Blacklock wrote.
The fight stems from August 2025 when Texas began an effort to redistrict the state's congressional seats to create more Republican-leaning districts. Democrats in the state's legislature fled Texas to prevent a quorum in the House. They eventually returned, and the measure passed.
