Just two weeks after Leaders of the Democratic group who left Austin to block congressional redistricting insisted that the entire group was committed to staying another month until Republicans meet their demands or until the threat of arrest is gone; State Sen. John Whitmire of Houston returned home Tuesday sparking a new wave of controversy.
In a written statement Whitmire said, "The business of the Texas Senate should be done on the Senate floor, not in the courts and not in New Mexico." .
"After being in my district for five days, I have concluded my constituents are opposed to redistricting, but they also believe the fight should be on the Senate floor," Whitmire said.
Sparkle Anderson/Controversial Return of Sen. Whitmire/page 2 of 4.
The Democrats" strategy probably will change now that Whitmire has returned to Texas.
The story unfolded when eleven of the Senate's 12 Democratic members left the state July 28 to prevent a quorum in the Senate for the second special session. However, if a third session of the Texas Legislature is called and Whitmire returns to the Capitol, the 31-member Senate will have a quorum of 21 and the Republican senators will likely vote in favor of a plan that would redraw congressional boundaries creating more Republican seats. A quorum is the number of members of a body that, when assembled, are legally able to transact business. This could bring an end to the highly publicized 2-month-long standoff of 11 Texas Democratic senators who fled the state in an effort to avert congressional redistricting.
Redistricting was blocked in the first special session because of Senate procedures that requires a two-thirds vote to bring any legislation up for a vote. The Democrats left the Capitol just before the second session when Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he would not put the two-thirds procedure into effect in that session allowing the Democrats virtually no defense in combating the plan for redistricting.
