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It was midnight in the Texas Capitol, and everyone was waiting for Democratic Sen. Carol Alvarado. They wanted to know if she’d filibuster H.B. 4, the Donald Trump–pushed gerrymandering legislation that aims to gain five more Republican seats in the U.S. Congress. The state Senate had just reconvened after a three-hour dinner break called by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Alvarado, who’d filibustered for over 15 hours in opposition to a voter-suppression bill in 2021, was armed with comfortable sneakers, a catheter (the speaker gets no bathroom breaks), and thousands of letters from Texans across the state who opposed the bill. She would not let the fight die quietly.

It w

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