Jasmine Crockett says democracy is ‘hanging by a thread’, as Democrats flee Texas

American democracy is “hanging by a thread”, US representative Jasmine Crockett has warned.

As her fellow Democrats fled Texas in an effort to prevent Republicans approving a new congressional map, which is likely to give them more seats in the US congress, Jasmine Crockett said had they had to do whatever it takes to “get some humanity back in this country”.

At least 51 Texas lawmakers have said they plan to stay out of the state for about a fortnight to stop the redistricting vote, described as a “power grab to silence voters”.

Crockett, who has represented Texas’s 30th congressional district since 2023, told MSNBC: “Right now, all I know is that we’ve got to do everything we can to save this country because it feels like we’re going to hell and it feels like we don’t have a way back.

“Democracy is hanging by a thread… we need to do everything we can in this moment.”

The redistricting law, supported by president Donald Trump, would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives, and is likely to result in Jasmine Crockett being removed from her district by moving its borders away from her home.

@repjasmine Everything’s bigger in Texas, and so is our fight for fairness. #jasminecrockett #dontmesswithtexas #redistricting #fairmaps #votingrights ♬ original sound – Jasmine Crockett

The pushback against Republican tactics was about fighting for the “soul of this country,” Crockett added.

“Ultimately, the history books will write kindly about us and, well, we’ll see what they write about the other side. Once we get the adults in the room to fix things, as Democrats typically do, then we can finally get some guard rails around our democracy and fix the system once and for all.”

Why are democrats ‘fleeing’ Texas, and what is redistricting?

Redistricting, also referred to as gerrymandering, is the act of dividing and reorganising an area based on political districts. The Republicans, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) have 220 seats to the Democrats’ 213 in the US House of Representatives. Two seats remain vacant following the deaths of two Democrats.

However, Texas must have at least two-thirds of its 150-member local state legislature present to make a quorum so that a vote can go ahead. The absence of Democrats makes that impossible.

GOP governor Gregg Abbott has threatened to remove Democratic lawmakers from office on Monday (4 August) if they don’t return.

However, after flying to Chicago, Texas House of Representatives minority leader Gene Wu said: “We will not be complicit in the destruction of our own communities.”

Fellow Democrat Chris Turner told CNN: “It is the right of legislators to deny quorum. As governor Abbott should know, we also have separation of powers in this country. The executive doesn’t get to remove lawmakers just because he doesn’t like how we choose to represent those who elected us.”

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