Ardmore, Okla.
Fifty-three Democratic lawmakers from Texas went into hiding this week to keep colleagues from passing measures they didn’t like. The walkout left the House of Representatives short of the 100 members it needed to conduct business. Speaker Tom Craddick, a Republican, sent state troopers to round up the missing Democrats, but most hid in Oklahoma, where Texas police couldn’t touch them. They vowed to stay away until the legislative session closed, so Republicans who control the House couldn’t pass a redistricting plan that could give the GOP seven more seats in Congress. The Democrats said they were blocking a “power grab.” Republican Gov. Rick Perry called them “cowardly and childish.”
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