EUGENE, OR — As Texas Democrats walk out of the Capitol in protest of a new redistricting plan, the standoff has sparked national attention and renewed questions about how, and whether, these tactics actually work.

The strategy is familiar to Oregonians: in 2023, Republicans left the Capitol for six weeks to block Democratic bills on abortion and gun control. While the motivations differ, the playbook is the same. Only four states require a two-thirds supermajority for quorum, making walkouts a rare tool for minority parties to halt legislation.

"A minority party feels convicted and obligated to use whatever tools they have to prevent the majority from advancing policies anathema to them," said Chandler James, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon.

Oregon

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