Texas Democrats have left the Capitol in an attempt to block a mid-cycle redistricting scheme. For a party that’s been frustratingly content to roll over for MAGA opposition, it’s a welcome and surprisingly spirited act of resistance. Texas Democrats are causing a rupture in order to expose to the public a democratic crisis that would otherwise be buried in procedural obscurity.

Since the special session in the Texas legislature began in late July, the state’s Republicans have moved forward with an aggressive redistricting effort that’s tantamount to a partisan coup. Despite devastating floods having leveled entire Texas communities just weeks earlier, Republicans did not begin the session by prioritizing flooding relief. Instead, without having submitted any maps, they initiated a plan to redraw the state’s political geography in a way that secures Republican power for another decade. The proposed redistricting blatantly targets growing communities of color, undercuts turnout among young voters, goes after influential Texas progressives, and preloads congress with five extra Trump votes.

Republicans’ power grab in Texas is unprecedented in its shamelessness. The party’s leaders are no longer bothering with legalistic cover. The committee chair of the redistricting process, Representative Cody Vasut, openly declared that this process is about securing Republican dominance, not about constitutional concerns, and he flagrantly dismissed criticisms raised by the Department of Justice. The party in charge of one of the most diverse and populous states in the country is writing its own rules in plain sight, and they’re confident that the myth of a dyed-in-the-wool red Texas is enough to convince the public that they have a mandate to do so.