(The Center Square ) – A Houston attorney has filed an ethics complaint against House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, after the caucus livestreamed Texas House proceedings on social media platforms including a Democratic fundraising link to ActBlue.
The livestream encouraged “support” for state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, who refused to leave the House chamber in accordance with a directive issued by House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock.
After more than 50 House Democrats absconded during the first special session to prevent a vote on new Congressional districts, Burrows signed civil warrants for their arrest. Gov. Greg Abbott also directed Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to find missing Democrats in Texas, arrest them, and bring them back to the capitol, The Center Square reported.
After two weeks, roughly half of the Democrats returned on Monday allowing for the House to reach a quorum. Those who returned who previously had arrest warrants issued would be “granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated DPS officer,” Burrows said on Monday. DPS officers would also ensure their return at 10 a.m. Wednesday when the House reconvened, The Center Square reported.
Collier refused to go into DPS custody on Monday, posting videos on social media. In one video, she is seen speaking to former Vice President Kamala Harris who encouraged her to “keep doing what you are doing.”
The Texas Democrat Caucus, chaired by Wu, livestreamed her refusal to comply, requesting viewers to show “support” by going to websites linking to an ActBlue fundraising page.
In response, Houston-based attorney, Mark McCaig, chairman of the Texas Republican Initiative, filed a Texas Ethics Commission complaint against Wu alleging possible violations of Texas Election Code.
The complaint states the caucus “operates under Wu’s control and direction as Chairman. Beginning on approximately August 18, 2025, Wu and/or Wu’s agent(s) were responsible for erecting a video camera on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives to broadcast a live video stream” on the caucuses’ social media X and Facebook pages.
“The floor of the Texas House of Representatives is not accessible to members of the general public, but only to State Representatives and authorized personnel,” the complaint states. “Wu has access to the House floor as a State Representative. The video stream directs users to riggedredistricting.com, a fundraising website for the Texas House Democratic Caucus. The video stream also includes text encouraging viewers to ‘Support Rep. Collier: Visit NicoleCollier.com,’” which redirects to an ActBlue fundraising website.
A ticker also ran across the livestream video, stating, “Join the fight against redistricting! Fight back against Texas redistricting from anywhere! Go to RiggedRedistricting.com.”
“The livestream video broadcast on the Texas House Democratic Caucus social media accounts constitutes political advertising,” the complaint states. It also includes links of the fundraising appeal on Facebook and on X.
After McCaig filed the ethics complaint, the caucus added a line to the ticker stating the fundraising appeal was “not intended for political advertising” and removed links to fundraising websites from the livestream.
What happened, McCaig told The Center Square, shows “the Democrats’ political theater is about fundraising and not policy.”
Since then, several House Democrats have ripped up their permission slips to leave the chamber, in accordance with the House rules they voted for.
House Democrats again opposed redistricting efforts on Wednesday, claiming the primary focus of the legislature should be Hill Country relief.
During the first special session, a flood relief package was the first item brought to the House floor for a vote. House Democrats didn’t show up for it.
“The only thing standing in the way of disaster relief was the missing Democrats,” Burrows said, The Center Square reported. Flood relief would have already passed in the first special session if House Democrats had been there to vote for it.
The Texas Senate has now twice passed its relief package with bipartisan support. Unlike the House, it has already passed all bills on the second special session agenda except for four that must first come from the House, The Center Square reported. One of those bills is on redistricting.
