The vote was 19-2, with nine Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people,
white supremacy,
whiteanything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word
(Thomas) Nastyto the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
absent after exiting the Senate floor moments after the maps were taken up, a show of protest against what they framed as a "corrupt process."
"This mid-decade redistricting isn't about fair representation—it's about politicians picking their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders," the Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement. "And it doesn't stop here. If they can gerrymander now, they can and will do it before every election."
Denying a quorum, as House Democrats have done in the lower chamber, would have required all 11 Senate Democrats to walk out. But two Democrats, Sens. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of McAllen stayed in the chamber to vote against the map.
Both politicians had spent 45 days in New Mexico in 2003 in protest of the GOP's mid-decade redistricting effort then.
''We learned that quorum breaks can delay but not defeat this effort,'' Zaffirini and Hinojosa said in a joint statement. ''Legislators cannot stay away forever, and the Governor will call as many special sessions as needed to prevail. Our greatest hope is at the courthouse, and the sooner we get there, the better.''