Texas Eleven
Encyclopedia
The Texas Eleven were a group of Texas Senate
Democrats
who fled Texas
for Albuquerque, New Mexico
for 46 days in 2003 aimed at preventing the passage of controversial redistricting legislation
that was intended to benefit Texas Republicans
. A group of Texas House representatives, dubbed the Killer Ds, had fled the state earlier that same summer for the same reason.
U.S. House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay
, then a powerful figure in Texas politics, advocated arresting the Texas Eleven, telling reporters that he supported using FBI
agents or U.S. Marshals
to arrest
the runaway Democrats and bring them back to Austin
, asserting that redistricting
is a matter of federal
concern.
, going to Oklahoma and New Mexico to be out of reach of Texas authorities. After successfully preventing a quorum for an entire 30-day special session of the legislature, Senator John Whitmire
left New Mexico and returned to Texas. The remaining ten Senate Democrats (often referred to as the "Texas Eleven Minus One: following Whitmire's departure), stayed in Albuquerque
for several more days but returned to Austin and the Texas Senate after Whitmire's presence on the Senate floor created the quorum needed for the Senate to meet.
Texas political advisor Harold Cook helped organize the quorum break. Cook served as the group's primary spokesman, and stayed with the senators for the duration of their time in New Mexico.
Texas Senate
The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the...
Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
who fled Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
for Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
for 46 days in 2003 aimed at preventing the passage of controversial redistricting legislation
2003 Texas redistricting
The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade congressional redistricting plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry...
that was intended to benefit Texas Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. A group of Texas House representatives, dubbed the Killer Ds, had fled the state earlier that same summer for the same reason.
U.S. House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Majority Leader Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
, then a powerful figure in Texas politics, advocated arresting the Texas Eleven, telling reporters that he supported using FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agents or U.S. Marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
to arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
the runaway Democrats and bring them back to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, asserting that redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
is a matter of federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
concern.
Background
The Texas Constitution calls for the 32-member Texas Senate — 31 Senators and the Lt. Governor — to have a quorum of two-thirds of its members present in order to conduct a vote, which means that the absence of 11 members can prevent the Senate from voting. Eleven Democrats left the state to avoid being forced to return to the Senate by Texas RangersTexas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
, going to Oklahoma and New Mexico to be out of reach of Texas authorities. After successfully preventing a quorum for an entire 30-day special session of the legislature, Senator John Whitmire
John Whitmire
John Harris Whitmire is the longest-serving of current members of the Texas State Senate representing District 15, which includes much of northern Houston, since 1983. Previously he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 through 1982...
left New Mexico and returned to Texas. The remaining ten Senate Democrats (often referred to as the "Texas Eleven Minus One: following Whitmire's departure), stayed in Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
for several more days but returned to Austin and the Texas Senate after Whitmire's presence on the Senate floor created the quorum needed for the Senate to meet.
Texas political advisor Harold Cook helped organize the quorum break. Cook served as the group's primary spokesman, and stayed with the senators for the duration of their time in New Mexico.
List of senators
The "Texas Eleven" senators were:- Gonzalo BarrientosGonzalo BarrientosGonzalo Barrientos, Jr. is a former Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing the 14th District from 1985 to 2007. He was also a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Austin from 1975 to 1985.-2002:-2000:...
(Austin), Dist. 14 - Rodney EllisRodney EllisRodney Glenn Ellis is an African-American politician from the state of Texas. He has served on the Texas State Senate since 1990, representing Texas Senate District 13.Senator Rodney Ellis was elected to the Texas Senate in 1990...
(HoustonHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
), Dist. 13 - Mario Gallegos (Houston), Dist. 6
- Juan “Chuy” HinojosaJuan HinojosaJuan Jesus “Chuy” Hinojosa is a Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing the 20th District .-Biographical Information:...
(McAllenMcAllen, TexasMcAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in an area known as the Rio Grande Valley and is part of the . Its southern boundary is located about five miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and the Mexican city of Reynosa, the Rio...
), Dist. 20 - Eddie Lucio, Jr.Eddie Lucio, Jr.Eduardo Andres “Eddie” Lucio, Jr. is a Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing the 27th District since 1991.Lucio is the father of Eddie Lucio, III who currently serves in the Texas House of Representatives....
(BrownsvilleBrownsville, TexasBrownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
), Dist. 27 - Frank Madla (San Antonio), Dist. 19
- Eliot ShapleighEliot ShapleighEliot Shapleigh is a politician from the state of Texas, who represented the state's 29th Senatorial District, which comprises the majority of El Paso County, from 1997 to 2011. He announced on October 16, 2009 that he will not run for re-election in 2010...
(El PasoEl Paso, TexasEl Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
), Dist. 29 - Leticia Van de PutteLeticia R. Van de PutteLeticia R. San Miguel Van de Putteis a Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing the 26th District. She was previously a member of the Texas House of Representatives.-Family:...
(San Antonio), Dist. 26 - Royce WestRoyce WestRoyce Barry West is a Democratic African American member of the Texas Senate representing the Dallas-based 23rd District.-2004:-2002:-References:Royce Barry West...
(Dallas), Dist. 23 - John WhitmireJohn WhitmireJohn Harris Whitmire is the longest-serving of current members of the Texas State Senate representing District 15, which includes much of northern Houston, since 1983. Previously he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 through 1982...
(Houston), Dist. 15 - Judith ZaffiriniJudith ZaffiriniJudith Zaffirini is a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate representing the 21st District, which includes her home city of Laredo. On January 9, 2007, Zaffirini became the second in seniority in the 31-member Texas Senate, where she has served since 1987...
(LaredoLaredo, TexasLaredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
), Dist. 21