Texas Democrats walk off House floor to block voting bill before final deadline Texas Senate Bill 7 has remained controversial as new voting restrictions remain at the center of the legislation.
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Initially, the chairman of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats gave me permission to print his voter-suppression-resistance essay at my Substack newsletter, What's Going On. It ran Sunday afternoon.
Carroll G. Robinson, the chairman, has now given me the ok to share his thoughts with as many publications as possible. His call to protect democracy follows:
Texas is once again the biggest battleground state in America. This time it's not just about winning an election, it's about winning the fight to save our democracy and to roll back the Republican attacks on voting rights sweeping across our nation in states controlled by Republicans.
So far, this year Texas State House Democratic lawmakers have been the only Democratic lawmakers to defeat a Republican voter-suppression bill in a state legislature controlled by Republicans.
If Democrats can win the fight in Texas we can break the back of the Republicans onslaught against our voting rights and democracy.
Democrats Need Your Help, in Texas.
Texas State House Democrats are heroes in this new and modern fight for Freedom, Liberty and Justice as we prepare to celebrate Juneteenth, Freedom Day, this year in Texas and across our nation.
As we all know, "Freedom ain't free" and "Power concedes nothing without a demand."
The fight for our democracy and against Republicans' voter-suppression legislation is not over, in Texas. We need your help to finish the fight and save the victory State House Democrats won at the end of this year's regular legislative session.
Governor Abbott has already threatened to fire state employees and to have state troopers arrest State House Democrats to force them to come back to Austin for a Special Legislative Session so that Republicans can pass their voter-suppression bill. (These threats by Governor Abbott raise serious concerns about violations of the Texas constitution and the Texas judiciary must do their job when called upon or they too will have contributed to undermining the concept of separation of power in our democracy. Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton is not the Texas Supreme Court and AG opinions should not be the final word on major Texas constitutional issues. There will be more on this in a separate piece.)
To help defend and protect our legislative victory, Texas Democrats--and our allies--need to do two things. First, Texas and National labor unions should come together to establish a fund to help any state employees fired by Governor Abbott to try and force State House Democrats to come back to Austin so Republicans can pass their voter-suppression legislation.
This is an opportunity, in Texas, for labor unions to, once again, demonstrate the power and value of organized labor and why working Texans should organize their workplace and join a union.
Second, all Texas Democrats must help build a modern underground railroad across our state so that State House Democrats can't be arrested and forced back to Austin. Democracy--freedom from oppression--is worth defending. These too are extraordinary times and Texas (and national) Democrats must once again be extraordinary in this fight to protect our individual freedoms and our democracy. Come join the fight, in Texas.
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