...
In May, 52 House Democrats road-tripped, most of them by bus, to the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Okla., to kill House action on redistricting. True to tradition, the senators took a more upscale approach to interstate flight, traveling on two private jets and checking into a Marriott Pyramid North in Albuquerque.
The impact was the same: legislative gridlock.
In Albuquerque, Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said he packed enough T-shirts to last awhile.
"This group is united in availing ourselves of the tool granted to us by our Texas Constitution to break a quorum of the Senate," he said. "It's not about Democrats. We think it is about democracy."
"We are going to try to use common sense and take it day by day," he said when asked how long the senators could remain out of town.
The Democrats on the lam were greeted as heroes by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat who was named Monday as chairman of his party's 2004 national convention.
"This is a wonderful time of the year to visit the Land of Enchantment," he said. "New Mexico has a long history of helping people on the run, and should these legislators decide to stay awhile, I will be proud to have them."
Richardson accused the Texas GOP leadership and majority of putting "undue political pressure to force these legislators to succumb to political manipulation."
The pressure has come from the highest places, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land and Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser.
...
http://www.statesman.com/legislature/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/0703/0729redist.html