Texas Democrats who sought refuge in Illinois for two weeks to block passage of new Republican-friendly congressional maps in their state returned home Monday, in their words, “victorious.”
The departure marked the end of a nationally-watched standoff between the lawmakers and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who pushed the remap plan at President Donald Trump’s urging in a bid to add five additional Republican seats in the U.S. House.
The group had signaled they would return home if two conditions were met: the legislature canceled the first special session, and California Democratic lawmakers introduced their own congressional maps as a countermeasure to Texas’ proposed lines.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker played host to the group and celebrated their arrival here as a symbol of Democratic resistance to GOP “cheating,” aimed at tilting the 2026 mid-term congressional elections in Republicans’ favor.
The group was staying at a hotel and conference center in west suburban St. Charles, which had received two bomb threats while the lawmakers were there last week, though both threats were deemed unfounded. Several Texas lawmakers also made multiple media appearances alongside Illinois elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep Delia Ramirez, and members of the state legislature’s Latino Caucus.
“We are 40% of the population of our state, and we are being treated like an afterthought,” Texas State Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. said at a press conference last week. “We will not remain silent while our communities are being erased and their voices along with it.
Abbott threatened to have the Texas lawmakers here arrested and to have them forced out of office, though neither happened. Trump said the FBI “may have to” get involved to force the group back to Austin, which also did not happen. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with the help of Illinois State Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, sued in a downstate Illinois court to compel police to assist in arrest efforts, but a judge last week rejected that bid, writing the court does not have jurisdiction. The Democrats still faced fines of $500 per day.
“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a prepared statement Monday.
“We’re returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans’ plans than when we left,” he said. “Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire legislators across the country how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses.”
Pritzker had hinted that he might try to answer Abbott and Trump’s moves in Texas by calling a special legislative session in Illinois to redraw four-year-old congressional maps here that give Democrats a 14-3 advantage over Republicans.
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But so far, Illinois’ governor has not followed through. The state’s congressional map has been recognized as being among the most Democratic-friendly in the country and wresting away any additional congressional seats from Republicans would be next to impossible, some redistricting experts told WBEZ.
Pritzker did not issue a response Monday to the departure of the Texas Democrats, but a campaign aide pointed to a series of tweets the governor made on Saturday, commenting on their time in Illinois.
“When the @TexasHDC first asked me for help in their fight against Trump and Abbott’s power grab, I told them they had me at hello,” Pritzker wrote.
“For the past few weeks, that fight has been here in Illinois, as we provided safe haven for members enduring threats of violence and arrest. Thanks to them, the world knows what’s happening in Texas and Democrats have a plan to push back,” the governor said.
Before leaving the state, some in the Texas contingent continued to make the rounds during the weekend, amplifying their cause. On Saturday, some members of the group headlined a rally in Millennium Park, as part of the nationwide “Fight the Trump Takeover” campaign. And on Sunday, a Texas Democrat spoke from the pulpit at Trinity Church of Christ, which is former President Barack Obama’s one-time home church.
“On this Sunday, as we continue the fight against this redistricting power grab, as we continue to flip tables, as we continue to cause angelic trouble, let us recommit ourselves to the cause of democracy on earth as it is in heaven,” Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a former pastor who now represents Austin, said during the South Side church service.
