Even at the grocery store, Texas troopers don't let Democrats out of
sight after walkout
[August 20, 2025]
By JOHN HANNA, SARA CLINE and JIM VERTUNO
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier refused to
come to the Texas state Capitol for two weeks. Now she won't leave, and
fellow Democrats are joining her protest.
Collier was among dozens of Democrats who left the state for the
Democratic havens of California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York to
delay the Republican-controlled Legislature's approval of redrawn
congressional districts sought by President Donald Trump. When they
returned Monday, Republicans insisted that Democrats have
around-the-clock police escorts to ensure they wouldn't leave again and
scuttle Wednesday's planned House vote on a new political map.
But Collier wouldn't sign what Democrats called the “permission slip”
needed to leave the House chamber, a half-page form allowing Department
of Public Safety troopers to follow them. She spent Monday night and
Tuesday on the House floor, where she set up a livestream while her
Democratic colleagues outside had plainclothes officers following them
to their offices and homes.
Dallas-area Rep. Linda Garcia said she drove three hours home from
Austin with an officer following her. When she went grocery shopping, he
went down every aisle with her, pretending to shop, she said. As she
spoke to The Associated Press by phone, two unmarked cars with officers
inside were parked outside her home.
“It’s a weird feeling,” she said. “The only way to explain the entire
process is: It’s like I’m in a movie.”
The trooper assignments, ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin
Burrows, was another escalation of a redistricting battle that has
widened across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials to tilt
the map for the 2026 midterms more in his favor to preserve the GOP’s
slim House majority, and Democrats nationally have rallied around
efforts to retaliate.
Other Democrats join the protest
House Minority Leader Gene Wu, from Houston, and state Rep. Vincel
Perez, of El Paso, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents a
minority-majority district in Fort Worth.
On Tuesday, more Democrats returned to the Capitol to tear up the slips
they had signed and stay on the House floor, which has a lounge and
restrooms for members.
Dallas-area Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, called their protest a
“slumber party for democracy” and said Democrats were holding strategy
sessions on the floor.
“We are not criminals,” Houston Rep. Penny Morales Shaw said.
Collier said having officers shadow her was an attack on her dignity and
an attempt to control her movements.
Republican leader says Collier ‘is well within her rights’
Burrows brushed off Collier's protest, saying he was focused on
important issues, such as providing property tax relief and responding
to last month’s deadly floods. His statement Tuesday morning did not
mention redistricting and his office did not immediately respond to
other Democrats joining Collier.
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Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier, left, waves past Texas state Sen.
Carol Alvarado, right, to supporters outside of the House Chamber
where she refuses to leave due to a required law enforcement escort,
Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“Rep. Collier’s choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is
well within her rights under the House Rules,” Burrows said.
Under those rules, until Wednesday’s scheduled vote, the chamber’s
doors are locked, and no member can leave “without the written
permission of the speaker.”
To do business Wednesday, 100 of 150 House members must be present.
The GOP wants 5 more seats in Texas
The GOP plan is designed to send five additional Republicans from
Texas to the U.S. House. Texas Democrats returned to Austin after
Democrats in California launched an effort to redraw their state’s
districts to take five seats from Republicans.
Democrats also said they were returning because they expect to
challenge the new maps in court.
Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back
after they left the state Aug. 3, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott
asked the state Supreme Court to oust Wu and several other Democrats
from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day
they were absent.
How officers shadowed Democratic lawmakers
Democrats reported different levels of monitoring. Houston Rep.
Armando Walle said he wasn’t sure where his police escort was, but
there was still a heightened police presence in the Capitol, so he
felt he was being monitored closely.
Some Democrats said the officers watching them were friendly. But
Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole said in a social media post that when she
went on her morning walk Tuesday, the officer following her lost her
on the trail, got angry and threatened to arrest her.
Garcia said her 9-year-old son was with her as she drove home, and
each time she looked in the rearview mirror, she could see the
officer close behind. He came inside a grocery store where she
shopped with her son.
“I would imagine that this is the way it feels when you’re
potentially shoplifting and someone is assessing whether you’re
going to steal," she said.
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas, and Cline reported from Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.
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