Texas Dems Seek Donations To Face Daily Fines For Leaving The State To Block GOP Redistricting Push

Texas Democrats are seeking for donations to face the costs associated with having left the state to block Republicans' redistricting push, lawmakers said.

State House Democratic leader Gene Wu said the party is "getting a lot of small-dollar donations," which are going to "help keep this going."

Among the costs are hotel bills for the dozens of lawmakers and daily fines for not attending the sessions. They are also facing the threat of being arrested.

The Associated Press detailed that a political group by former congressman Beto O'Rourke, Powered by People, has given money to the caucus to help cover some costs.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will launch an investigation to determine whether the group incurred in a "financial influence scheme."

He had also vowed to "hunt down" Democrats who left the state, but then cast doubt on the possibility of prosecuting them, saying he would "have to go through a court process" and potentially file lawsuits in "districts that are not friendly to Republicans." O'Rourke, in turn, said he would use Paxton's threat as a fundraising opportunity.

House rules determine fines can't be paid from office budgets or political contributions. However, people involved in the Democratic strategy told the Texas Tribune that they already have a strategy in place to face the roughly $1 million a month needed to finance the move.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett said that, since there are minimal limits on external income, lawmakers can just accept donations as another salary. She added that it might not even come to that. "I think that the first step would be to make sure that there are attorneys on deck to actually challenge the legality of these rules," Crockett said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he heard the FBI will search for Democrats who left the state. "Those who are out of state think that they are beyond the reach of Texas law enforcement, and they may or may not be. But for one, when they come back, they're not going to go to their cozy home; they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol," Abbott told conservative radio host Dana Loesch.

"It's my understanding that the FBI is going to search for these derelict Texas House members, in whatever state they may be in, and help identify them – and maybe work with us to bring them back."