Texas Democrats have moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP's redrawing of U.S. House maps before the 2026 election.

Exiled Texas State Democratic legislators, who fled to Illinois to block gerrymandering, visited a mosque with a Skokie official.

Democrats' absence has halted work in the Texas House, which must also approve the new boundaries, for more than a week.

Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the House, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among states that rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows has given quorum-breaking Texas Democrats an ultimatum: come back to Texas or the special session ends—and with it, efforts to ban THC and handle flood response die.