A Republican Texas state senator is facing accusations of racism due to a social media remark about a colleague who left the state to foil Republican plans to redraw congressional districts before next year’s midterm elections.
State Sen. Mayes Middleton, a GOP senator from Galveston campaigning for Texas attorney general, posted on the social platform X on Monday: "Is Gene Wu back in China?"
Democratic state representative Gene Wu of Houston, who leads the Texas House Democratic Caucus, joined other Texas House Democrats in departing the state on Sunday to block a quorum. Their absence during the governor’s special legislative session in Austin prevents the Republican majority from passing legislation that would reconfigure certain congressional maps — changes that might yield up to five additional Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Middleton's remarks were strongly criticized on social media.
State Sen. Molly Cook, a Democrat representing Houston who also exited the state in solidarity with her House colleagues, replied to that post: "This tweet makes it hard for me to believe y'all when you say you're not undertaking racist gerrymandering."
State Sen. Boris L Miles wrote on X: "You are all the way out of line. You cannot agree with what @GeneforTexas did but that response is uncalled for, and unwarranted. Then you are in shock when people call you a racist. But you want to be this state’s next attorney general. Absolutely Disrespectful and Disgraceful."
A post from Texas Democrats' official X account said: "You're a disgrace to Texas and have no business holding office. Republicans throw racist temper tantrums whenever Democrats actually fight back. Rep. Wu represents Texas better than you ever could, lil Mayes."
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Houston Public Media reported that the Bay Area Democratic Movement issued a statement on Tuesday labeling Middleton’s remark "racist", and demanding he "apologize and/or resign."
The group added: "Senator Middleton represents a very diverse population in the Bay Area."
They asserted that Texas doesn’t need someone vying for the state’s top legal office who "spouts off racist comments."
Pointing out that "Middleton claims to be a conservative and devout Christian," they countered that "making racist comments are neither a conservative value nor a Christian value."
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