JUST IN: Texas Supreme Court FAST-TRACKS Case to Vacate Rogue Democrat Seats

The Texas Supreme Court is moving swiftly to rule on AG Ken Paxton’s case seeking to vacate thirteen rogue House Democrat seats.

On Friday, AG Paxton asked the Supreme Court to expel these runaway Democrats, who fled the state in order to block a vote on redistricting, from the state House.

Now, the Supreme Court has set an expedited schedule to hear the case.

Attorney General Ken Paxton announced:

The TX Supreme Court has set an expedited schedule in my case seeking to declare the rogue Democrats' seats VACANT.

The thirteen runaways I sued will face justice for abandoning Texans.

I look forward to fighting alongside @GregAbbott_TX to hold these cowards accountable.

— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 12, 2025

The fact that the Texas Supreme Court has fast-tracked the case is a very good sign they will rule in AG Paxton’s favor.

And, it’s a clear-cut case: by abandoning their position to serve their constituents, these rogue Democrats have essentially forfeited their seats.

The Texas Tribune provided the names of the thirteen runaway Democrats who could lose their seats:

Gov. Greg Abbott previously asked the court to expel Houston Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the Texas House Democrats.

Wu is also named in Paxton’s petition, alongside Reps. John Bucy, Lulu Flores, Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa and James Talarico of Austin, Jessica González and Mihaela Plesa of Dallas, Suleman Lalani of Sugar Land, Christina Morales of Houston, Ron Reynolds of Missouri City, Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos of Richardson and Chris Turner of Grand Prairie.

Paxton argued that these representatives effectively abandoned their offices by leaving the state Sunday to stop the House from passing a new congressional map that would redraw district lines with the aim of netting five seats for Republicans. He said these 13, among the dozens who have left the state, “made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return, essentially confirming in their own words the very grounds for this legal action.”

No specific court date has been set yet, but it should be very soon.

A press release from the Texas AG website has more details on the case:

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Texas to formally pursue judicial declarations that 13 Texas House seats have been vacated due to continued unlawful absences by Democrat legislators who failed to meet the return deadline set by Speaker Dustin Burrows.

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“The rogue Democrat legislators who fled the state have abandoned their duties, leaving their seats vacant,” said Attorney General Paxton. “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. 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.”

House Democrats remain willfully absent from the State of Texas, choosing instead to engage in politically motivated grandstanding from out-of-state locations. Their conduct represents a flagrant abandonment of office and a betrayal of the voters who entrusted them with the duty to represent Texans in the legislative chamber.

This initial lawsuit concentrates on 13 Democrat members who made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return, essentially confirming in their own words the very grounds for this legal action. Texas law provides the Attorney General with explicit authority to represent the State in quo warranto actions and to appear before the Texas Supreme Court in matters where the State has a direct interest.

The petition states: “The Texas Constitution, statutes, and rules provide a broad range of tools for members of a legislative minority to be heard. But those tools do not include concerted effort by members of the minority to disrupt the functioning of the Legislature by abdicating their duties, including spurning the constitutional authority of the remaining members to compel their attendance. When members of the Legislature disregard arrest warrants, refuse to perform their duties, and announce that they intend to prevent the Legislature from exercising its constitutional responsibilities, they have, through words and conduct, demonstrated an intent to relinquish and abandon their offices.”

In addition to filing this petition, Attorney General Paxton and Speaker Dustin Burrows moved to enforce arrest warrants in other states. Attorney General Paxton also launched an investigation into Powered by People and Texas Majority PAC for potentially operating an illegal financial influence scheme to bribe Democrats into breaking quorum.

Let’s kick these guys out and replace them with people who actually want to do their job and represent Texans.

They, themselves, chose this.