As the story goes, in 1840, Abraham Lincoln and four of his colleagues in the Illinois House of Representatives jumped out a window in an attempt to block a vote. Accounts of the incident vary, leaving it unclear whether they leapt from a second-story window or simply climbed out of a ground-floor one.
At the time, Democrats — who held the majority — were trying to shut down a state-run bank, a move Lincoln and his fellow Whigs strongly opposed, according to The New York Times.
Unfortunately for Lincoln, the dramatic gesture was in vain: he had already been marked “present” for the quorum.
Texas state representative James Talarico was one of more than 50 House Democrats to flee the state on Sunday to stop a redistricting vote that could hand Republicans five new Congressional seats in the upcoming midterms. On Tuesday, a rather smug Talarico spoke to the bros on the “Pod Save America” podcast from “a nondescript hotel room in Illinois.”
Although he fled Texas on a private jet (allegedly funded by Beto O’Rourke’s PAC), Talarico compared himself to Lincoln.
“We are in Illinois, and it’s appropriate because this is the land of Lincoln. And Abraham Lincoln actually broke quorum back in 1840 when he was a state senator by jumping out of the window of the Illinois state capitol,” Talarico said.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have to jump out of any windows in Texas, but we are joining a long tradition in America of standing up to bullies, of speaking truth to power, of causing good trouble,” he added. “And I know my colleagues and I are proud to do this work regardless of what consequences may come.”
In the clip below, Talarico recites the usual Democratic talking points — the same ones we’ve heard ad nauseam since Sunday, and many that have been repeated for the better part of a decade.
While he sees meaning in the Texas Democrats seeking refuge in Illinois — the land of Lincoln — I find their chosen destination ironically fitting for a completely different reason: Illinois is arguably the most gerrymandered state in the nation.
Despite Donald Trump winning 45% of the vote in 2024, Republicans hold just 3 of the state’s 17 congressional seats — a mere 18%.
Democrats have been at this for a long time. Although Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has vowed to retaliate if Texas moves forward with its redistricting plan, it just might be that Democrats have taken gerrymandering in the state as far as it can go.
The maps below show the differences in Illinois congressional district maps between 1970 and 2025. They illustrate just how aggressively Democrats have redrawn district lines to their advantage. Pay particular attention to the twisted contours of the 13th District.
Another Texas Democrat, Rep. Jolanda Jones, spoke to former CNN host Don Lemon on Monday from an “undisclosed location” in New York. Jones absurdly called Texas’s redistricting plans “racist” and said she is standing up to avoid the same mistakes that led to the Holocaust.
“We better have the courage to stand up, otherwise we will fall for anything,” Jones said. “And in this country, we will be defeated, deported. I mean, we will lose all of our rights. And if you think it can’t happen, it can.
She continued, “And I will liken this to the Holocaust. People are like, ‘Well, how did the Holocaust happen? How was somebody in a position to kill all them people?’ Well, good people remain silent or good people didn’t realize that what happens to them can very soon happen to me or somebody I love.
“And so, even if you made it, man, you have an obligation to help people who can’t because, God forbid, they end up targeting you and your family.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Jones apologized for her comments and retracted her comparisons to the Holocaust, but remained adamant that Trump is “coming for my community” and he is trying to “disenfranchise Black and Brown people.”
The statement read: “I made a statement on ‘The Don Lemon Show’ comparing Trump’s attempt to disenfranchise Black and Brown people to the Holocaust. That was a mistake, and I apologize for it. Trump is coming for my community, and I get emotional about it and make strong statements. But that was going too far, and I retract that comparison.”
I don’t recall Republican cries of racism when Democrats were trying to mine every bit of political gold out of their state maps, do you?
Democrats, once again, are showing voters that they’re not a serious party. Is it any wonder why the party’s favorability ratings are sitting at record lows?
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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