Texas Democratic legislators, 2003 News

bolted the state to boycott a vote on a redistricting measure orchestrated by U.S. representative Tom Delay that would have increased the number of Republican seats in Congress. In May, 51 House Democrats skipped off to Oklahoma, successfully killing a vote on the controversial issue. Eleven state senate Democrats fled to New Mexico in July to block a special session vote. They returned in September to try to resolve the issue on the floor.