Case Summary

In August 2025, LULAC co-filed a brief to support Rep. Gene Wu against Gov. Abbott’s unconstitutional attempt to punish Rep. Wu for taking a stand against redistricting. Governor Abbott’s effort would deprive nearly 200,000 Texans of their duly elected representative, a blow against democracy which flies directly in the face of the Texas Constitution.

“The League was already concerned by the legislature’s attempt to thwart the will of the voters through corrupt and discriminatory mid-cycle redistricting,” said Joyce LeBombard, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas. “Now, the governor is attempting to circumvent our state's constitution and system of checks and balances. For the sake of voters and our democracy, the League is here to fight this nefarious power grab.”

“This map is nothing short of a hijacking of democracy in plain sight," said Roman Palomares, LULAC National President and Chairman of the Board. "It entrenches Republican power by rewriting the rules of the game midstream. When you can't win fairly, you cheat, and that is exactly what this is. The people of Texas, especially its Latino voters, deserve better than to be carved up and cast aside to serve the president's agenda.”

“These are dangerous times for our democracy if the Texas Supreme Court allows Governor Abbott to act like an out-of-control dictator to purge a duly-elected member of the state legislature because they are using a legislative strategy he doesn’t like,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The Governor is not a King. Democracy Forward is honored to work with such an impressive group of organizations that do the hard work to protect our democracy and people’s right to vote. We are committed to stopping Governor Abbott’s alarming and unconstitutional overreach.”

When Texas adopted its Constitution almost two hundred years ago, it worried that narrow majorities in the legislature could ram through ill-considered and dangerous laws. Texas therefore established a high quorum requirement: to pass a new law, at least two-thirds of the legislature must be present at the session.

In 2025, Governor Abbott called for Texas to redistrict its Congressional seats to gerrymander five additional seats into Republican control. Opposing this aggressively partisan mid-cycle redistricting, more than fifty representatives left the state to deny Governor Abbott the quorum he would need to pass the law. Governor Abbot responded by threatening manhunts and prosecutions.

Governor Abbott has now sued to strip Representative Wu of his seat in the Texas legislature for participating in the quorum break. This lawsuit would unconstitutionally eviscerate Texas’s quorum requirements and deny a whole district its elected representative to the Texas legislature.

Litigation

Case Type: Voting Rights

Location: Supreme Court of Texas

Legal Documents

08/08/2025 Our Brief

In the News