Renegade Texan lawmakers hide out in Oklahoma
Last Updated: Thursday, May 15, 2003 | 6:35 PM ET
CBC News
But the fugitive lawmakers who fled the state legislature in Austin on the weekend say they'll be going home within a day.
They've been waiting either for House Speaker Tom Craddick to pull a bill that would redraw the state's congressional map, or for Friday when the bill essentially would be dead.
The bill would tilt the electoral map in Texas in favour of the Republicans, knocking several federal Democrats out of Congress. Under House rules, the bill needs a preliminary vote by Thursday.
After that, a two-thirds majority would be needed to bring the bill back to the floor of the House, unlikely when Democrats hold 62 seats in the 150-seat House.
On Sunday, more than 50 Democratic legislators left the capital, to prevent a two-thirds quorum in the House, then fled the state to avoid being arrested and forced to take their seats.
The battle over redrawing the map is being fought in Texas, but it was pushed onto the agenda in part by Tom DeLay, the majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.
DeLay points out that the GOP controls both houses of the Texas legislature and all statewide offices, but has two fewer congressmen than the Democrats.
The Texas state Democrats are being hailed as heroes by their supporters, and vilified as cowards by their opponents.
