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Prof. Justin Levitt's Doug Spencer's Guide to Drawing the Electoral Lines
Texas | Process

Texas v. O’Rourke

Last Updated Aug 27, 2025
Case No. 348-367652-25 (Tex. Dist. Ct., Tarrant Cnty.), No. 2025DCV3641 (Tex. Dist. Ct., El Paso Cnty.), No. 15-25-00140-CV (Tex. Ct. App.), No. 25-0740 (Tex. S. Ct.)
Cycle 2020

Case Information

A petition to prevent Beto O’Rourke from raising money to support the Texas legislators fleeing the state in a quorum break to prevent Texas’s proposed mid-decade gerrymander.

On Aug. 8, 2025, and Aug. 15, 2025, a Tarrant County trial court issued a TRO preventing O’Rourke from fundraising; on Aug. 19, 2025, an El Paso trial court issued a TRO preventing the state from taking steps to revoke the license of O’Rourke’s nonprofit, Powered by People.  On Aug. 26, 2025, a state appellate court issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking further proceedings in Tarrant County pending a determination of appropriate jurisdiction; the next day, the state supreme court denied the state’s petition for mandamus.

History

Case filings, starting with most recent court
    Name Last Modified
Document icon State's petition Aug 8, 2025
Highlighted document Document icon TRO preventing fundraising Aug 8, 2025
Document icon Amd. petition Aug 12, 2025
Document icon State's motion for contempt Aug 12, 2025
Document icon Hearing transcript Aug 14, 2025
Document icon Order denying transfer of venue Aug 15, 2025
Document icon Amd. TRO restraining fundraising Aug 15, 2025
Document icon Order denying dissolution of TRO Aug 19, 2025
Document icon Petition for TRO Aug 20, 2025
Document icon TRO restraining El Paso proceedings Aug 25, 2025
    Name Last Modified
Document icon Petition to restrain AG Aug 8, 2025
Document icon AG's response Aug 11, 2025
Document icon Amd. petition to restrain AG Aug 11, 2025
Document icon Transcript of TRO hearing Aug 13, 2025
Document icon TRO preventing license withdrawal Aug 19, 2025
Document icon Notice of appeal Aug 22, 2025
    Name Last Modified
Document icon Petition for mandamus Aug 25, 2025
Document icon Appendix Aug 25, 2025
Document icon Motion for emergency relief Aug 25, 2025
Highlighted document Document icon Admin. stay Aug 26, 2025
    Name Last Modified
Document icon State's letter to court Aug 26, 2025
Document icon Petition for mandamus Aug 26, 2025
Document icon Order denying mandamus Aug 27, 2025

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