Representative Ann Johnson: “They have horrible policies for everyday Texans and Americans, and they are deathly afraid of you showing up to vote in November 2026.”
Today, Texas State Representatives Ramón Romero, Jr., John Bucy III, and Ann Johnson participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to call out Donald Trump and Greg Abbott’s brazen attempts to use a special session for a power grab to help cover for their disastrous agenda of health care cuts and billionaire handouts. Texas Democrats have refused to legitimize Republicans’ map rigging scheme designed to hand Trump five new Republican House seats on a silver platter, and bravely broke quorum to stop them.
The Representatives highlighted the reason why the Trump administration sicced the FBI on Texas Democrats and hunted them down: Republicans know that Trump and his agenda are so deeply unpopular with the American people that the only way they’ll survive the midterm elections is to rig the rules and ram through their anti-democratic gerrymander.
“They’re in a fight to take things away and change America, change this fragile democracy that we love, that we’ve been a part of, and those that are on this call have participated in defending, while they, on the other hand, have been fighting to take away food from the poor, food from children. They’ve been fighting to take away health care from those that need it most,” said Texas State Representative and Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Ramón Romero, Jr. “They’ve been fighting to take away education from those that seek a better life, including Dreamers in Texas by colluding with our Attorney General, and they are fighting to continue to give tax breaks to their billionaire friends, and we know that it’s all at the expense of working class communities like those that we are fortunate to serve.”
“Donald Trump is the most unpopular president in America in recent history, 38% approval rating. He has cut health care for veterans. He’s cut health care for Americans. He’s withheld funding for public education,” said Texas State Representative John Bucy III. “And so he knows that he’s going to lose the midterm elections in Congress. He knows he’s in danger, and instead of changing his policies, he wants to change the maps, he wants to change the game. He wants to rig the election, which is pretty typical for an authoritarian wannabe leader like Donald Trump.”
“We’re fighting for our democracy, making sure that everybody understands that we are merely representatives stepping up because we’re trying to protect your voice and your vote in the next election,” said Texas State Representative Ann Johnson. “As we started this call, they have horrible policies for everyday Texans and Americans, and they are deathly afraid of you showing up to vote in November 2026. We are defending it across this nation on the front lines to ensure that you know that your vote matters, your voice matters. Let’s continue to catch that courage and get everybody to the ballot box to defend this democracy in November 2026.”
BACKGROUND
Texas Republicans are trying to use a special session to rig the midterms and gift-wrap five new Republican House seats for Donald Trump, who knows that his agenda is such a disaster that Republicans can’t survive the midterms competing on a level-playing field.
- FIRST: REPUBLICANS CHOSE REDISTRICTING OVER FLOOD RELIEF TO COVER FOR TRUMP’S UNPOPULAR AGENDA: While Texas families recover from devastating and deadly flooding, Texas Republicans are using a special legislative session to prioritize Donald Trump’s redistricting demands over urgent flood relief, putting congressional map-rigging ahead of emergency aid to hold power for themselves and their billionaire backers.
- THEN: TRUMP SENT THE FBI TO HUNT DOWN TEXAS DEMOCRATS WHO BROKE QUORUM TO STOP POWER GRAB: Texas Democrats courageously fled the state to break quorum and stop Trump’s redistricting power grab, prompting Trump to send the FBI to hunt them down and force them back so Republicans can ram through their agenda, wasting law enforcement resources and taxpayer dollars to round up his political opponents.
- NOW: TRUMP’S POWER GRABS EXPOSE HIS DESPERATION AS HE ORDERS A RIGGED CENSUS TO AVOID CONSEQUENCES OF HIS TOXIC POLICIES: Trump special-ordered a map-rigging scheme to hand him five additional Republican House seats and ordered the Commerce Department to conduct a new census because he knows his agenda is such a disaster that Republicans will have to rig the rules just to survive the midterms.
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