Texas Democrat threatened with ‘felony’ during press call

Wednesday, August 20

Texas Rep. Nicole Collier threatened with ‘felony’ during press call

It’s happening: Texas Republicans look set to pass their extreme gerrymander through the House tonight. It’s expected to be approved by the Senate Thursday, before heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
Texas Rep. Nicole Collier (D), who caught the national spotlight after choosing to sleep in the state capitol rather than accept a police escort, was ordered off a press call organized by the DNC today.
Collier dialed into the Zoom call — which also featured DNC Chairman Ken Martin, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Cory Booker — from a Capitol restroom as the floor debate over Texas’ GOP gerrymander echoed in the background.
Collier interrupted as Martin was responding to a press question, saying she was being ordered to end the call. “It’s a felony for me to do this, apparently?” Collier said before seeming to address someone off camera. “I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom? You told me I was only allowed to be here, in the bathroom.”
The incident occurred as the Trump administration increasingly uses the power of government to punish political opponents.

When the Texas House passes its gerrymandered map, Democracy Docket will be following every twist and turn. Our reporters work around the clock to deliver in-depth coverage of this redistricting story. Support pro-democracy journalism by upgrading today.

JOIN TODAY

Trump is plotting to end mail-in ballots, but not all Republicans are on board

After President Donald Trump said he wanted to “get rid of” mail-in ballots earlier this week, some Republican election officials said they weren’t on board.
New Hampshire Sec. of State David Scanlan (R) told a local reporter that eliminating mail voting — and scrapping voting machines, as Trump also wants to do — would be a bad idea, saying the electoral process there was “fair” and “accurate.”
Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger (R) avoided replying directly to Trump’s comments while saying Georgia’s elections, which allow anyone registered to vote by mail, were extremely secure.
And Don Millis, a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, reportedly said that killing mail-in ballots or vote tabulation machines would delay results by weeks for no reason.

Appeals court allows Virginia governor to keep disenfranchising former offenders

In a loss for voters, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s current policy that only restores voting rights to people with felony convictions on a case-by-case basis as decided by the governor.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) repealed the state’s previous restoration policy, which automatically restored voting rights to Virginians with prior felony convictions.

Texas’ anti-democratic special session is an attack on abortion, too

Texas’ redistricting scheme isn’t the only focus of this special session. The same conservative lawmakers hell-bent on helping Trump steal the U.S. House are also trying to attack abortion rights and limit bodily autonomy, writes Democracy Docket contributor Susan Rinkunas. Read her piece here.

Is the conservative map expanding? Not on Joe Kennedy’s watch

Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III isn’t walking away from rural America. He launched the Groundwork Project to listen to voters and invest in states that shouldn’t be forgotten. He sat down with Marc to discuss the origins of the organization and the future of the Democratic Party.

By scrapping mail-in voting, Trump would be one step closer to stealing the 2026 election

Trump announced he will issue a new executive order in a bid to get rid of mail-in voting and to control the counting of ballots in 2026. This is not a political stunt. It is an existential threat to democracy, as Marc explains in his latest video. Watch it here.