Texas Republicans in the legislative majority are about to demonstrate these truths more clearly than ever before: They’ll do whatever they want because they can. Their majority no longer respects the power of democracy. Their majority seeks the power of tyranny.

Governor Abbott claims this special session is to help Kerr County recover from its flood disaster and seek ways to avoid a repeat. But his legislative majority is using it instead to rig the state’s Congressional districting. They’re making sure Republicans stay in charge in Washington. This isn't politics as usual and it sure isn’t democracy. It’s an assault on democracy itself and Texans need to firmly oppose it.

The scheme is simple but devastating: Create five new Congressional districts so heavily Republican that any Republican candidate is sure to win. And create them by carving up traditional Democratic strongholds in Houston, Dallas and Austin. Split apart Black and Latino neighborhoods that have fought and voted together for decades to achieve fair representation, making their votes too insignificant to affect the outcome of an election.

This Texas Republicans tyranny violates democracy's most basic principle: that voters choose their representatives – not the other way around. When politicians can draw districts which include only the voters they want, they can stop responding to a broader constituency because they’re rewarded for their partisanship. Elections become meaningless exercises. And this keeps Texas moving in the wrong direction.

These aren’t the values that brought me and others to Texas – a place where opportunity and personal freedom for all has been underwritten for generations by free and fair elections. And these sure aren’t the Texas values that I want for our children and our grandchildren.

To be sure, both parties have gerrymandered when given the chance. But Texas Republicans are doing something unprecedented: mid-decade redistricting solely to help their party maintain power. No census data, no court order, no legitimate justification beyond Trump's demand for more seats. They’re simply doing it because the President told them to and because they can.

Heavy handed gerrymandered districts breed extremism because when politicians only respond from their own party's fringes, we get representatives more interested in soundbites than fixing the electric grid, preventing catastrophic flooding or funding public schools.

There is a solution. It exists and it works. States like Michigan and California use independent citizen commissions to draw fair district maps. These panels include Democrats, Republicans, and independents and follow transparent criteria: achieve equal populations, draw district lines that keep communities together, and provide for competitive elections.

Texas lawmakers like Rep. Vikki Goodwin have proposed exactly this reform. Her bill HB 196 would create a citizen redistricting commission that draws maps based on data and fairness, not political advantage. Support her cause by immediately contacting your state legislators and demand they oppose these rigged redistricting. Most importantly, vote in every single election because democracy only works when people vote.

I came to the Texas that values fair play, personal liberty and opportunities for all on an level playing field. These tyrannical redistricting schemes betray these values by diluting the voting strength of millions of Texan voters and predetermine the outcome our elections.

The choice is simple: competitive voting districts or rigged elections. Democracy or tyranny. As a candidate for Texas Land Commissioner, I stand on the side of democracy.  I ask you to join me in the fight for fairness. Standing together, Texans can take our voices back and get our state moving again in the right direction.