The New York Times :

Illinois, a Democratic state, was supposed to be a haven, but Texas Democrats have been unable to escape escalating legal and political threats that have gone further and come faster than many of them had anticipated, based on earlier walkouts in 2021 and 2003. Now they are wondering just how long they can hold out — and hoping to make it to the end of the special legislative session they left behind, which is set to end Aug. 19.

“They’re using hardball, unconventional, authoritarian tactics that we didn’t see in 2021,” said State Representative Ron Reynolds, a Houston Democrat who was part of the group at the hotel in St. Charles. “People are concerned. We’re looking over our shoulder.”

Those tactics keep coming.

On Tuesday, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Tex

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