AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has refused to declare that Democratic state lawmakers who briefly left the state last year in a quorum break to stop a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump vacated their offices. The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans on Friday in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.
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