“My constituents sent me to Austin to protect their voices and rights,” said Collier.

The Texas House of Representatives has passed a redistricting bill, paving the way for Republican-drawn maps that could net the GOP as many as five US House seats to be finalized in the coming days.

Collier, who represents a minority-majority district, said she would not “sign away my dignity” and allow Republicans to “control my movements and monitor me.”

The House adopted the map, 88 to 52, along party lines. A Senate panel advanced a similar map Sunday, and the full chamber was expected to send the new lines to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk later this week.

Texas Republicans on Wednesday will take up a new state congressional map intended to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats in next year's midterm elections, after dozens of Democratic lawmakers...

A Texas state House Democrat said she was threatened with arrest after an officer assigned to follow her lost track of her on a walking trail.