Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the arrest of Texas House Democrats who fled the state on Sunday. The Democrats are attempting to deny the House the one-third quorum needed to allow Republicans to approve a new gerrymandered Congressional district map.

This scheme by the Texas House Democrats may politically backfire and alienate voters because critical legislation, such as aid to flood victims and property tax relief gets stymied.

What is ironic about this gambit is that the fleeing House members have escaped to Illinois where the Governor JB Pritzker has granted them political asylum. No state has abused the gerrymandering process more than Illinois, where the partisan district line-drawing has been elevated into a science.

In 2021, Pritzker led the fight to jam through the following monument to abstract art he called Illinois’ Congressional map. In 2024, Democrats won 14 seats (82%) and Republicans only three (18%), even though Democrats won only 52.8% of the popular vote. You can’t believe the map (below) they drew!

Gerrymandering is an undemocratic practice which allows incumbents to pick the voters who elect them and steal seats from the minority party. Both parties are guilty.

The solution is simple: take politics out of redistricting and let computers draw the lines by using objective criteria and drawing tight and contiguous districts, absent of politics.