As action stalls in DC, Democrats look to state leaders to defend, expand voting rights

Texas Democrat Chris Turner doesn't have much to celebrate legislatively in a state controlled by Republicans.

Last week, Texas's GOP majority muscled through a measure that makes sweeping changes to the state’s election and voting laws that analysts have said will make it harder and legally riskier to vote.

"We were very clear from the beginning that we would not be able to hold this back forever in Texas," Turner told USA TODAY.

The four-term legislator remains optimistic, however. When Texas Democrats fled the Lone Star State for Washington, D.C., in August and met with federal officials, Turner said, the urgency they conveyed to congressional Democrats was part of a string of events that pushed up a voting rights bill named for civil rights icon John Lewis, which originally had been planned for a vote this fall.