Austin – The Texas House session has been postponed until Wednesday morning. In the meantime, one state lawmaker is engaged in a protest that’s attracting considerable attention.
Before the session was pushed to Monday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows from Lubbock ordered the door to the chamber locked. He indicated that members would need written permission to exit. However, he made this move to weaken the Democrats’ assertion of a quorum and added conditions to the arrest warrant faced by certain members. According to him, those members would only receive written permission to leave once they agreed to be escorted by a designated Public Safety Bureau, ensuring their return by 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, declined these terms and was not permitted to leave.
“I refuse to sign away the dignity of my role as an elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and track me with police escorts,” Collier stated in a news release.
The Texas Democratic Caucus emphasized her protest, labeling Collier as a “political prisoner” in a room. They even provided a live stream of her presence on the House floor and conducted live interviews with other representatives.
Supporters gathered outside, and a post from the Texas House Democrats showcased a video of activists appearing to monitor the stream.
Several Texas Democrats took to social media to share pictures and videos of themselves with Collier in a show of solidarity.
Later on Monday, NBC News reporter Ryan Chandler relayed that Collier was eventually informed she could go to her office, but could not leave the building without an escort from the Department of Public Safety.
Earlier in her protest, the Texas Redistricting Committee advanced a new congressional map. This vote is anticipated to lead the entire House to deliberate and potentially pass this legislation.
The proposed map aims to strengthen Republican representation in Texas’s congressional delegation, a move encouraged by President Donald Trump, who called for a redistricting that would benefit five Republican seats during the midterm elections.
State Sen. Todd Hunter from Corpus Christi defended the strategy to enhance Republican leadership.
“The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledges that jurisdictions can constitutionally engage in political gerrymandering, and political factors are inherently linked to districting,” Hunter remarked before the committee vote.
This map may marginalize Rep. Mark Visy, a Democrat representing areas that overlap with many of Collier’s state House districts. Collier is concerned that it will adversely affect her constituents.
“My community is primarily made up of minorities, and they expect me to advocate for their interests. I know that voting for this map would be detrimental to them,” Collier stated in a release.
“My constituents sent me to Austin to safeguard their voices and rights,” she concluded.
