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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A Texas congressional candidate told Newsweek that Democrats need to use every weapon in their arsenal to counter Republicans' efforts in a "gerrymandering war."
"I believe it's imperative at this moment to use every tool that we have to fight back," said Isaiah Martin, a 27-year-old Democratic candidate running in a November special election in Texas's 18th congressional district, which includes much of Houston.
"I think the only thing Republicans understand is being thrown out of power without mercy … that's why blue states have got to go and fight fire with fire."
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Martin's comments come as the fight over redistricting in Texas has sparked a scramble to redraw congressional maps in other states.
Texas Democrats fled their state on August 3, heading to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, in order to stop Republicans from approving the redrawn House maps sought by President Donald Trump that would give the GOP five more winnable seats before next year's midterm elections.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said there will be a special election in November seeking approval of redrawn districts that would allow Democrats to gain five more seats, offsetting any GOP gains in Texas, and other Democrat-led states could follow suit.
Martin said other Democrat-led states need to follow suit.
"What the Republicans are doing is coming for the jugular for us on every single front and we've got to respond back appropriately," he said, pointing to Vice President JD Vance visiting Indiana this week to discuss redistricting with leaders in that state.
"I think it's time to teach these guys a math lesson about the blue state population advantage," he added. "Let them find out the hard way that California and New York are a heck of a lot bigger than states like Indiana, and personally, it's unfortunate that it has to come to this, but we have to make sure we can fight back."
'I Spoke Unapologetically'
Martin was forcibly removed from the Texas State Capitol and arrested last month after he refused to yield while speaking at a hearing on redistricting.
"What I saw was Republican lawmakers doing everything they can to not listen to folks that have driven hours to go and testify," he said. "So I spoke unapologetically, and ended up with Republicans getting me tossed out of there and thrown in jail."
He was charged with disrupting a meeting, resisting arrest and criminal trespassing, CBS Austin reported. The charges were later dropped, and Martin was released after spending 30 hours in jail.
"I went right back to Houston … to tell those lawmakers that they weren't stopping anything," he said. "The result has been millions of people talking about this gerrymandering war that Trump started and the response that needs to be levied."
On Thursday, the Texas Democrats who fled Texas said they would return, provided Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn maps. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to call another special session to push through new maps. Newsweek has contacted Abbott's office for comment via email.
"As Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we're prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts," Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said.
Martin said it was up to the Texas Democrats who left the state to determine how long they stay away, but he encouraged them to stay away "as long as possible to give blue states time to respond appropriately."
He added that those opposed to the idea of Democrats retaliating by redrawing their maps should ask themselves if they are willing to lose their health care.
If Republicans retain power, they "can go and push more cuts to things like Medicare, Medicaid, and the long term goal of cutting Social Security," he said.
Martin said that going forward, he wants to talk about "making America more affordable."
He said: "Trump's very stupid policies has resulted in people losing jobs and having their grocery bills go up with reckless abandon, and so we need people that can unapologetically call that out, but then also provide a vision for the Democratic Party to help people have more of their own money.
"I believe that's where we've got to be moving forward. We've got to be bold. We've got to be audacious, because that's what this moment demands in history."
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