After leaving Texas for Illinois Prevent legislative voting The Republican constituency change plan required state legislative Democratic leader Jean Wu to project his voice and perspective into an audience around the country. So he tapped his campaign account and bought a microphone for the press conference.
When it came to cover a hefty hotel bill for WU and his roughly 50 colleagues, lawmakers said he was relying on money from the Democrat Caucus in his room.
Now, Texas Democrats are suing for donations to help fundraising if not weeks, if not weeks, to prevent the Republican majority from passing the plan President Donald Trump is seeking. Presidents are in Texas and other GOP controlled states Redraw their council district It will help Republicans maintain control of the US home in next year’s midterm elections.
“We’ve received a lot of small donations,” Wu told the Associated Press.
Political group led by Beto O’RourkeA former Texas House of Representatives who failed for the governor and the Senate gave money to the Texas House Democrat Caucus to cover the upfront costs, according to a group spokesperson. This week, O’Rourke is holding an event at Red State to launch the Democrats and encourage donations.
What drives people doesn’t reveal how much it contributed. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday it was opening an investigation into whether O’Rourke’s group committed bribery through a “financial impact scheme” that benefits Democrats who left Texas.
In response, O’Rourke said he was not attached to the threat of the investigation and would use it as a fundraising opportunity.
Legislators face travel expenses and potentially impose huge fines
By departing the nation, Democrats prevented Republicans from obtaining the quorum they needed to do business. Democrats hope to run out of clocks at a special legislative meeting that ends on August 19th. But Republicans Governor Greg Abbott You can call another session right away to raise your prospects for a long and expensive holdout.
Not only can Texas Democrats face thousands of dollars in out-of-state accommodation and meal costs, they can also ultimately face a $500 fine for every day they are away from home.
Texas has a part-time legislature where lawmakers receive $600 a month, plus $221 for daily expenses.
On Wednesday, State Sen. Jose Menendez joined Democrats from other states at a rallies in Boston, noting that daily fines for lawmakers who break quorum are roughly the same size as the overall monthly legislative salary.
“They need your prayers, they need your thoughts, they need you to get behind them,” he said.
Some Democrats in the Texas Senate came and went out of state this week to support their House colleagues, but the chamber’s lawmakers haven’t left the state to maintain legislative business.
“This fight is for the people.”
Illinois government Democrat and billionaire JB Pretzker welcomed Texas legislators to his state, but he said he doesn’t support them financially. Texas Sen. James Tarico has built national supporters in recent weeks, and lawmakers told Pretzker they didn’t want to fund their trip.
“We’re already ordinary people who have donated $5, $10, $15, with donations from all over Texas already flooding, and donating $5, $10, $15,” Tarico said this week. “And that’s right, because this fight is for the people and should be funded by the people. There’s no billionaires funding this business.”
The House Democrat Caucus has established a website that seeks donations of between $25 and $2,500.
Earlier this week, Abbott went to the state Supreme Court. Remove WU from Office He then ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate any bribery charges that could be related to the way Democrats pay for strikes.
Wu, a former Houston prosecutor, said the bribery proposal was “confusing and stupid.”
“Members will not leave because they may get campaign contributions that may recover some of the money they are spending,” he said.
How Left-Long Groups Help
Before Democrats decided to leave Texas, Wu said he called potential allies “there will be resources to come to our aid” for guarantees. However, he said it is no different from an aspiring candidate who seeks support from others before officially launching the campaign.
Wu, chairman of the Texas House Democrat Caucus, is a dozen democratic, progressive and Redistribution-oriented groups. Not all are financial supporters. Some people are providing support in other ways, such as adjusting their advertising.
The Democratic National Committee is helping with communication and organizing and providing support for the data analytics team, Chairman Ken Martin said.
Texas Democrats aren’t worried that they’ll be forced to return home in the near future due to a lack of money, said Luke Warford, founder of the Agave Democratic Infrastructure Fund, a Texas fundraising and organisational group. He said longtime Democrat funders understand the high costs of competing in tougher US housing races if Republicans succeed in redrawing the map.
“Of course, if the majority of the delegation is placed out of state, the bill will be exciting,” Warford said. But “When you think about it in the context of what Donald Trump has to get and what Democrats might lose in the short term, it’s not even close to the cost of trying to get back one of these races or any other bunch of races in the country.”
Democrats are getting holes drilled into hotels and conference centers outside Chicago, where they were evacuated Wednesday after the threat of a baseless bomb. Many lawmakers have been eating and meeting together, and are ready to continue doing so.
Democrat State Rep. John Beussie III, who spoke on the phone from the hotel, said he was not worried about how the costs would ultimately be covered.
“We’re at a great risk here to worry about these things,” Bucy said. “Our hotel bills seem to be very minor compared to what we are trying to do to protect our democracy.”
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Associated Press author Joey Capelletti in Washington, Holly Lamar in Concord, John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, and Leah Willingham in Boston contributed to the report.
