Former “Meet The Press” moderator Chuck Todd on Monday criticized Democratic Texas state representatives for fleeing to Chicago, Illinois, to protest a vote on the state’s 2026 congressional redistricting map.
A total of 51 Texas Democrats traveled to Illinois on Sunday in order to halt legislative proceedings by denying the state House a quorum to vote on the proposed redistricting map. Todd argued on “CNN News Central” that fleeing to Illinois was “a bad look” for the Democratic Party because he said the state engages in egregious gerrymandering. (RELATED: Charlamagne Tells Pete Buttigieg His ‘Biggest Problem With Democrats’ To His Face)
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“It seems as if the strategy is: bring more attention to this, make everybody uncomfortable. Right? The more painful you make the process in Texas, the more it’s hard to replicate. Maybe there isn’t — they may be — their own colleagues aren’t as interested in this,” Todd said. “Congressional Republicans that serve in Texas, whose districts are actually going to get impacted negatively, also secretly are kind of hoping this goes away, too. And I think they think the longer — the more painful they can make this in doing it — maybe there’s a way to shut this down.”
“The part that I think is sort of bad — I think it’s a bad look for a party that claims to be always trying to protect the democracy — is to hole up in a state that gerrymanders: the state of Illinois. I mean, one of the worst … Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Maryland — those are your four giant gerrymandered states,” he added. “And if you’re trying to make a point on gerrymandering, I don’t think I’d be going to the state of Illinois as a place to hide.”
A Texas House committee approved a draft congressional map on Saturday seeking to establish five additional Republican-leaning districts in 2026, CBS News reported.
With control of the House at stake in 2021, Illinois Democrats redrew their congressional maps, removing two Republican-held districts and bolstering their position in Washington, D.C., according to Politico.
The Texas House voted on Monday to locate and arrest the Democrats who fled, The Texas Tribune reported. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Monday also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest them.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on Thursday that Texas’ proposed redistricting map could lead to Republicans retaining control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
“You might think five seats is just five seats, but keep in mind this — margin to spare for the House majority: in 2020, the Democrats had four seats; 2022, Republicans had four seats; this time around, two seats for Republicans out of the 2024 elections,” Enten said. “Five seats can make all the difference in the world.”
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