Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wants Rep. Gene Wu removed from office over the redistricting walkout as the FBI joins the high-stakes political clash.
HOUSTON — The political fight over redistricting in Texas is escalating, with Gov. Greg Abbott now asking the Texas Supreme Court to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office.
Wu, a Houston Democrat, has until 5 p.m. Friday to formally respond to the emergency petition, which names him as the so-called “ringleader” of the Democratic walkout aimed at blocking a controversial Republican redistricting plan.
The dispute traces back to President Donald Trump’s push to flip five Democratic congressional seats in Texas. In response, dozens of Democratic lawmakers fled the state to stall the redistricting vote.
Now, the FBI is involved, working to locate the absent legislators.
While Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit to oust Wu, political analysts say removing a lawmaker this way is legally complicated. Neither the governor nor attorney general can directly force lawmakers from office — any removal would need to go through the courts. Even then, a judge’s decision is not guaranteed.
KHOU 11’s political expert explains that the attorney general could take a longer path: filing individual cases in each district to ask judges to declare those seats vacant. If successful, that could trigger special elections, but the process could take weeks to unfold.
Speaking to CNN, Wu responded to the lawsuit, saying:
“What we have committed to the people of Texas and to ourselves is we’re going to end this corruption for this special session.
If Governor Abbott wants to come back and say, you know, you’re right… we should’ve been focusing on disaster preparation and helping the families and communities hurt by the 4th of July disasters — we’re open.
If Governor Abbott says we will call the next special session and only focus on those things, and we will do political nonsense later, Democrats will be back.”
KHOU 11 will continue to follow this story as it develops and provide expert analysis on the redistricting showdown.