Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that he has filed a lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court seeking to declare the seats of 13 Democratic state legislators vacant after they fled the state to avoid participating in legislative business, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.
“The rogue Democrat legislators who fled the state have abandoned their duties, leaving their seats vacant,” Paxton said in a statement.
“These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process and violated the oath they swore to uphold. Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on.”
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Paxton said the lawsuit asks the court to formally declare the lawmakers’ seats empty, clearing the way for potential special elections.
“I have asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare what has been clear from the beginning: that the runaway members have officially vacated their offices in the Texas House,” he said.
BREAKING: I’ve filed a historic lawsuit against Democrat runaways in SCOTX to secure an order declaring their seats vacant.
These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process. Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on. pic.twitter.com/FDVVEjQDIx
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 8, 2025
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The move follows Paxton’s Tuesday announcement that he would pursue legal action if the Democrats failed to return to the chamber by the Speaker’s deadline at the end of the week.
“I will seek judicial orders declaring that runaway Democrats who fail to appear by the Speaker’s deadline have vacated their office,” Paxton said earlier this week.
The Democratic lawmakers left Texas for Illinois to block a vote on GOP-led redistricting legislation. Their absence deprived the House of the quorum needed to proceed with the bill.
Paxton’s legal action comes one day after he opened an investigation into the Texas Majority PAC (TMP), a political action committee he said is funded by billionaire George Soros and was allegedly involved in supporting the absent lawmakers.
TMP was founded by former staffers of former Democratic gubernatorial and Senate candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke.
According to Paxton, TMP “played a coordinating role” in organizing the trip and “helping with illegal fundraising and potentially bribing Texas House members.”
This development follows Paxton’s separate announcement earlier this week that his office had launched a criminal investigation into O’Rourke’s own political action committee for allegedly funding the Democrats’ travel out of state.
Reports indicated that O’Rourke’s PAC paid for the private plane used to fly the legislators to Illinois.
The Texas Supreme Court has not yet indicated when it will hear arguments in the case.
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