AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. John Cornyn is asking the FBI to help find Texas House Democratic lawmakers who left the state and officially denied quorum in the Texas House of Representatives to delay a vote on Republicans' efforts to approve new congressional maps .

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also said in a statement that he plans to seek judicial orders declaring the absent lawmakers' seats vacant if they don't return to Texas by Friday.

More than 50 Texas House Democratic lawmakers left the state ahead of a scheduled 3 p.m. vote in the Texas House Monday. The Texas House Democratic Caucus previously said some members went to Illinois while others went to New York and Massachusetts.

Cornyn, who's running for re-election and seeking to fend off a challenge from Paxton , in a lette

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