Watch live: Texas Democrats who fled to Chicago to deny GOP’s congressional redistricting effort speak out

Seeking to avoid a vote on redrawing five congressional districts, Texas Democrats fled their home state for bluer pastures.

Dozens of Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives arrived in Chicago on Sunday while others flew to Albany and Boston.

A supportive Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met the Texas Democrats after they landed Sunday evening at O’Hare International Airport. At a late-night news conference, Pritzker praised the Texans for displaying “a righteous act of courage” as he called Trump a “cult leader” and “would-be dictator.” The Illinois governor also criticized Texas Republicans for using a special legislative session in Austin, aimed at providing relief for last month’s flood victims in the state’s Hill Country, to please Trump and use it “as political cover to push through a racially gerrymandered congressional map.”

Texas House Democrats flee to Chicago to deny GOP’s congressional redistricting effort

“Let’s be clear, this is not just rigging the system in Texas. It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come,” Pritzker said at the news conference, held at the west suburban Carol Stream headquarters of the DuPage County Democratic Party. Pritzker vowed to do “everything we can to protect” the visiting Texas Democrats from threats of arrest by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton because “they’re doing the right thing.”

Members of Texas’ Democratic congressional delegation who arrived in Chicago on Sunday are scheduled during a Monday evening press conference. The event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CDT. The event will be livestreamed here.