A Fort Worth lawmaker is at the center of the latest showdown in the Texas redistricting fight, saying she is effectively confined to the House chamber after refusing to sign off on a controversial “permission slip.”
Democratic State Rep. Nicole Collier returned to the Capitol on Monday following her party’s two-week walkout meant to stall a Republican redistricting plan. But Collier says she has not left the building since, after declining to sign a document that would place her under a Department of Public Safety escort whenever she stepped outside.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, had ordered the DPS escorts as a way to prevent Democrats from breaking quorum again. Republicans argue the extraordinary measure is necessary to ensure the chamber can move forward with a map that could net the GOP as many as five new congressional seats ahead of the 2026 elections.
Democrats, however, call it intimidation and a violation of their rights. Collier says she plans to remain inside the Capitol until Wednesday when the House reconvenes, framing her protest as both practical and symbolic.
The redistricting fight is now headed for the courts, with Democrats vowing to challenge the maps on constitutional grounds even as Republicans push ahead with their mid-decade redraw.
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