Texas Democrats to meet with Clintons, Stacey Abrams

The Texas House Democrats who are breaking quorum to block their Republican colleagues from advancing voting restrictions will meet with Bill and Hillary Clinton and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams on Thursday, state legislators said.

Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus will meet with Abrams at 10 a.m. and the Clintons at 11 a.m. Both meetings will take place virtually, over Zoom.

More than 50 members of the Texas House are in Washington this month, waiting out the clock on a special legislative session to block Republicans from enacting sweeping changes to elections in the state. Through meetings with members of Congress and a steady stream of media events, the legislators have used their time in the capital to plead for federal voting legislation.

In interviews, the state Democrats said the meetings with the former president, the 2016 Democratic nominee and Abrams come at a critical time. After more than two weeks of frenzied activity — and a number of breakthrough Covid cases — lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill slowed this week as the Senate turned its attention to working out a bipartisan infrastructure deal.