Texas

Not only are Texas Republicans fighting back against Democrats who left the state to block a vote on the GOP’s congressional map – they’re also battling one another. Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton both want the courts to remove Democrats from office and declare their seats vacant, but they are sparring publicly over how to do it.

Abbott filed an emergency petition Tuesday directly with the Texas Supreme Court, asking justices to declare state Rep. Gene Wu’s seat vacant. The filing signaled a dramatic escalation in the battle over Republicans’ redistricting plan, which aims to create five additional GOP seats in Congress. It also set off an unusual public showdown between Paxton and Abbott, with Paxton arguing the governor did not have the authority to bring the lawsuit, and Abbott doubling down on his ability to file the petition......

Shortly after Abbott filed the motion, Paxton’s office took the unusual step of sending a letter to the Texas Supreme Court claiming Abbott did not, in fact, have the authority to file the lawsuit.

“While the Attorney General appreciates the Governor’s passion for ensuring the Texas House reestablishes the quorum that is necessary to discharge the important business of the Legislature,” Solicitor General William R. Peterson wrote, “this Court’s precedent is clear that a ‘quo warranto’ proceeding ‘can only be brought by the attorney general, a county attorney, or a district attorney.”

Peterson suggested Abbott had jumped the gun on taking legal action and said Paxton will wait until Friday to pursue a quo warranto proceeding, in alignment with a deadline the Texas House speaker gave Democratic lawmakers for returning to the Capitol.

Abbott’s office quickly responded with a letter of their own to the court. Rather than backing off, Abbott – who formerly served as Texas attorney general and as a Texas Supreme Court justice – doubled down on his position.

“At least 500 years of common law and more recent Texas Supreme Court precedent make clear that quo warranto proceedings may be initiated by relators other than the Attorney General,” the letter said......

Setting aside the conflict between Abbott and Paxton, the Texas Supreme Court requested late Tuesday that Wu file a response to Abbott’s petition by end of day Friday.