Democratic legislators in Texas could flee the state to prevent the GOP from approving new maps that could expand Republicans’ congressional majority.

Texas and national Democrats have vowed to fight back while blasting the GOP plans, which could give Republicans five more seats, as discriminatory.

Visiting with Democratic state lawmakers in Austin, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) vowed Thursday that “all options” should be on the table to stop the GOP plan.

But because Democrats are a minority in the state Legislature, they have few options to stop the GOP and face an uphill battle legally and politically.

One very real option would be to seek to deny the quorum necessary to keep the Texas state House and Senate functioning, something Democrats might have the numbers to accomplish.

“Democrats don’t have many arrows left in their quiver. There simply aren't a lot of things they can do to be able to challenge these maps in the near term,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

A quorum break could be the “nuclear option,” Rottinghaus said, “because most members don't want to do it that way. They want to stay and fight.”

“But the problem is that they simply don't have a lot of tools legislatively, or in terms of their total numbers to stop or slow things here in Austin.”

The map proposal, filed this past week during a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), comes after President Trump pressed Texas Republicans to draw new maps to protect the party’s narrow 219-212 House........

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