- calendar_today August 11, 2025
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Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier disconnected herself from a private call Wednesday with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders after she said she had been told it would be a felony for her to participate while inside the Texas Capitol.
Collier was on the call with Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and others as the Texas House of Representatives was in session to discuss a redistricting bill backed by former President Donald Trump. She spoke during the call and during her remarks about how the map, which was being discussed by Texas Republicans, would violate the Voting Rights Act and negatively impact the ability of minorities to elect their preferred candidates.
“This bill will prevent Black and brown individuals from selecting the candidates of their choice because they’re cracking and packing these districts,” Collier said during the call.
Approximately 30 minutes into the call, and while Martin was speaking, Collier hung up on the call and told the group that she had to go.
“Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” Collier said.
“I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom,” she said before addressing an off-camera person.
“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said. “Bye, everybody. I’ve got to go,” Collier said, turning back to the camera. “No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go.”
She then hung up.
NJ Sen. Cory Booker was among those visibly shocked by the abrupt departure and fired back at Texas Republicans.
“That is outrageous,” Booker said. “Rep. Collier, in the bathroom, has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office. OK. I’m just serious.”
Newsom seemed to agree with Booker as the Senator continued.
“Look, what they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader. Silence a black woman. And that is outrageous,” Booker said. “What we just witnessed, them trying to shut her down, and saying it’s illegal for her to be in the bathroom and on this call, this is the lengths that they’re going to in Texas.”
Collier is one of a number of Texas Democrats who have faced criminal charges after she and others left the state to block the legislation from advancing by denying the House a quorum. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and GOP leaders ordered the lawmakers arrested and banned from the state Capitol and threatened to have them removed from office if they did not return.
After returning to Austin, members said that the atmosphere in the state Capitol had changed. Texas Department of Public Safety officers had been assigned to trail each member, in what lawmakers said at times included guards at their offices and those walking behind members throughout the building. Lawmakers told local media some officers even required them to sign “permission slips” to leave the building as part of the new security measures intended to ensure the House had a quorum.
The Texas bill itself could create as many as five new Republican congressional seats. The move, Texas Republicans say, is needed to better reflect how the state has grown more conservative in the last decade. Democrats say the bill is an effort to entrench GOP control for the next decade.
In California, Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) unveiled a new congressional map that could wipe out as many as five Republican seats. The map would be approved by the state legislature and go to voters for approval in the state’s primary in March. But by aligning with California Democrats on a new redistricting map, Newsom and Democrats are attempting to wipe out Republican seats before they are drawn in Texas.
A new map was released on Friday as to how California Democrats will be attempting to redraw districts on the West Coast to offset potential Republican gains in Texas.
GOP and Democratic leaders are already looking at new congressional districts as a key target in the battle for control of Congress. For Democrats, the battle in Texas has become both a symbol of voting rights abuses and a catalyst to fight what they argue are Republican efforts to diminish minority political power.
