Austin, TX — Yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick issued statements indicating that the Senate and House will sine die on Friday, August 15, 2025, ending the First Called Special Session. Governor Abbott also announced that he would immediately call the Legislature back into session on the same day to begin the Second Called Special Session with the same agenda.

In light of the statement from the Governor and Lt. Governor, when Senate Bill (SB) 4, which changes the Texas Congressional district boundaries, was brought up for debate, 9 of the 11 Senate Democrats left the Senate Chamber. However, Dean Senator Judith Zaffirini and Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa chose to remain in the chamber to cast a vote against SB 4.

Dean Zaffirini and Senator Chuy Hinojosa issued the following statement regarding their decision to stay in the Senate Chamber:

“We respect the decisions of the nine Democratic senators who left the Senate to support the House Democrats. By breaking quorum, 55 state representatives met their goal of preventing passage of the untimely, unfair Congressional redistricting bill and making it a national issue.

Having spent 45 days in New Mexico in 2003, however, we learned that quorum breaks can delay but not defeat this effort. Legislators cannot stay away forever, and the Governor will call as many special sessions as needed to prevail. Our greatest hope is at the courthouse, and the sooner we get there, the better.

We stayed in the Senate to question the author and to speak out in opposition. Most important, we made a record of voting against the bill. When it became obvious that redistricting would be argued anew during the second special session expected to convene on Friday, we reserved our right to raise questions and to make opposing statements at that time.”

###