Former President Barack Obama on Thursday praised Democratic Texas state lawmakers for setting a powerful example for others to follow by blocking Republicans’ plans to redraw the Lone Star State’s congressional maps at Donald Trump’s request to give the GOP an edge in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.
His comments, which were first reported by ABC News, came as Democrats have fled to Illinois and other northern states, leaving the Texas House of Representatives unable to establish quorum to pass the new political maps that would give Republicans five additional GOP-friendly congressional seats.
“We can’t let a systematic assault on democracy just happen and stand by, and so, because of your actions, because of your courage, what you’ve seen is California responding, other states looking at what they can do to offset this mid-decade gerrymandering,” Obama said in a virtual meeting with those Texas Democrats.
Obama’s comments came on the same day that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced his decision to pursue a state ballot initiative to offset Republicans’ controversial redistricting ploy in Texas. If approved, the plan would target five House Republicans in the Golden State.
The former president commended Texas Democrats for helping “set the tone” for the rest of the country, while predicting that the redistricting fight will be “long.”
“It’s not going to be resolved right away, and it’s going to require, ultimately, the American people understanding the stakes and realizing that we cannot take our freedoms and our democracy for granted,” Obama said.
Texas Democrats said they are prepared to go back to Texas if the state legislature adjourns Friday.
“Under the advice of legal counsel, Democrats must return to Texas to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle against a map that violates both the current Voting Rights Act and the Constitution,” the Texas House Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
“Trump thought he could easily get his way in Texas with compliant Republicans, but Democrats fought back ferociously and took the fight to Trump across America,” the statement continued.
Eric Holder, who served as attorney general in the Obama administration and now chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, also joined the call.
Obama warned that Democrats cannot afford to be complacent, citing the White House’s willingness to bypass Congress and pursue the “militarization of cities, politicization of our justice departments and our military,” without naming Trump.
“Those are trend lines that remind us this precious democracy that we’ve got is not a given. It’s not self-executed. It requires us to fight for it. It requires us to stand up for it,” Obama said.