Could you walk me through what your average day has been looking like since you and your fellow Democrats left the state?
Well, the days have been nonstop. Early mornings, late evenings—doing a lot of interviews because we’re trying to shine a national spotlight on this redistricting power grab in Texas and why it is critical, not just for Democrats, but independents and Republicans too, in order to protect their voices in the democratic process across this country.
But we also have constituent services to attend to just like normal. And so in between these interviews, I’m ensuring that my constituents have what they need. If they’ve got to get ahold of Medicaid, or they have a problem with a state agency, or there’s a pothole in the neighborhood, I’ve got to still handle those issues.
We’re all here together in the same hotels. We’re keeping our spirits up. We’re eating our meals together in the conference room.
How do you pack for going on the lam indefinitely?
My dad has this big duffel bag, and so I borrowed his, and it has his little tag with his name on it instead of mine. I think I brought seven dress shirts. I brought one jacket, jeans, T-shirts, and shorts, too. I’ve basically run through all those clothes at this point, so I’m going to need to do laundry today at the hotel. All my clothes that I’ve got now are officially dirty, and I need to try to spend time at some point today to wash some of these shirts.
In what could be a really historic moment, do you feel any pressure?
I knew that it was a dramatic step. It’s one we didn’t take lightly because it comes with a lot of personal, financial, legal, and political costs. But I knew it was important and it had consequences to the whole country. If Trump was able to escape accountability in the midterms, I think that would have dire consequences for the future of our representative democracy.
And the threat to have the FBI come and arrest you guys, does that being on the table worry you at all?
All the threats against duly elected law-abiding state legislators have been alarming—it should be alarming to all of us. Quorum breaking is a right that we have as the minority in our state constitution. There’s about 150 years of history of us breaking quorum in Texas.
So listen, we’re not breaking the law. We’re not doing anything wrong or illegal. The fact that Trump would threaten to send in the FBI, Greg Abbott would threaten to remove us from office, Ken Paxton would ask his followers to hunt us down—all for doing our jobs and using a legitimate constitutional legislative tactic to stop a massive power grab—is unsettling, to say the least.
What is your level of concern in terms of where this goes, and if this could escalate to something akin to a cold civil war?
I think we need leadership at this moment more than we’ve ever needed it before. And the president is very proud of the peace deal he worked out [between Armenia and Azerbaijan], and I hope that he can take that same attitude here and help us work out a peace deal between these red states and these blue states. But instead, he’s the one instigating the conflict by trying to steal these five seats in the middle of a decade. And if they are intent on cheating like this, then the other side will respond. And if one side cheats, then all bets are off.
Jake Lahut
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