The Texas Legislature began a new special legislative session Friday after Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to deal with congressional redistricting and a host of other issues — laying down a new gauntlet for Democrats who fled the state nearly two weeks ago to halt a vote on a new district map.

Democratic lawmakers, who fled the state on Aug. 3 to block a controversial redistricting effort, said Thursday they’re prepared to “bring this battle back to Texas,” after seeing encouraging signs t...

The Texas House Democrats said in a written statement on Thursday that they will only return to Texas if their state's special legislation is ended and once California's redistricting maps were intro...