Texas governor seeks court order to fire top Democrat who fled in row over voting map

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said he is taking legal action to remove from office dozens of Democrats who have fled the state to block a plan to redraw electoral boundaries.

He filed a lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court seeking to have the state's top Democratic legislator, Gene Wu, fired.

It came a day after the Republican governor ordered that the absent Democrats be arrested and returned to the statehouse to allow for a vote on redistricting to proceed.

The redrawn congressional map would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

"Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans, and there must be consequences," the governor said in a statement.

At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state at the weekend.

"The court's decision will determine if only one third of the Legislature can dictate the outcome for 100% of Texans," the lawsuit says.

It argues: "Most people who repeatedly fail to show up for work get fired. Public servants must be held to the same standard."

The filing asks the state's highest court to grant a rarely used writ of quo warranto to oust Wu from his office.

Quo warranto is a court action used to resolve a dispute over whether a specific person has the legal right to hold public office.

While the lawsuit focuses on Wu, Abbott said in a statement that the Democrats' exit and refusal to return "constitute abandonment of their office, justifying their removal [from office]".

Wu, who is chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, did not immediately comment.

Democrats have defended their decision to break quorum.

Speaking to BBC News from Chicago, Texas Democrat Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos said: "We have to use every tool at our disposal... to continue to protect our democracy."