Comment

Wisconsin Democrats Stage Walkout to Deny Union-Busters a Quorum

5
blueraven2/17/2011 10:51:42 am PST

They tried this in TX a couple of times

The Killer Bees…

In 2003, Tom DeLay, who was then majority leader of the U.S. House and a congressman from Sugar Land, decided that the Legislature should again redistrict Texas seats in the U.S. House. No matter that this had just occurred, as ordered by law, in 2001. In 2002, voters had elected sizeable Republican majorities on both sides of the rotunda, and DeLay saw an opportunity to freeze Democrats out for years to come.

The minority Democrats in the state House saw no way to defeat DeLay’s redistricting plan on the floor. So fifty-two Democratic representatives took a chapter from the Killer Bees and flew away — this time to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where the Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction. The absence of more than one-third of the House broke a quorum, and business stalled. This earned the absent Democrats the nickname “Killer D’s.” The regular session ended in stalemate, but Gov. Rick Perry called legislators back in a summer special session to redistrict. This time, the Senate Democrats took flight for Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had to come back, however, and the redistricting bill passed into law.

DeLay got what he wanted. Of the ten Democratic congressmen he had in his sights, only three were re-elected. Four were defeated, one decided not to run again, one lost the primary, and one switched parties.

texastribune.org