TEXAS, USA — Texas Democrats left the state about a week ago, and there’s been a non-stop whirlwind of activity since then, from Sen. John Cornyn calling on the FBI to investigate and locate the Democrats, to Gov. Greg Abbott making a move to have their seats declared vacant.

Will the FBI help the Republican Party force through a partisan redistricting plan in Texas, or not? The answer to that question is of vital importance to sustaining American democracy. Republican state legislative leaders want to redraw Texas’s congressional districts to give their party as many as five more seats in next year’s midterm elections.