Democrat Wrestled Out of Remap Hearing
as Audience Applauds Defiant Performance
Capitol Inside
July 24, 2025
A physical altercation erupted at a Texas House hearing on Thursday night when a Democratic congressional candidate from Houston refused to end a fiery speech against a new map until the committee chairman had him restrained by a pair of aids and removed from the proceeding against his will.
Isaiah Martin - a former senior advisor to Sheila Jackson Lee in the U.S. House - received a round of spontaneous applause from the audience in the Texas Capitol hearing room as he was wrestled to an exit at the back while waving his finger and shouting at the shell-shocked committee members.
"History will not remember you kindly," Martin warned the panel's Republicans. "In fact, history might not remember you at all."
Martin was hauled to the Travis County jail two blocks from the Texas Capitol where he was charged with several misdemeanor offenses including resisting arrest and trespassing.
Martin is one of several candidates who are viewed as tentative frontrunners in a race for the Congressional District 18 seat that's been vacant since Sylvester Turner died earlier this year in the midst of a U.S. House debut. Governor Greg Abbott set the special election in CD 18 to be held on the same day as a statewide vote on constitutional amendments that lawmaker proposed in the regular session.
Harris County Attorney Christian Manatee and former Houston city council member Amanda Edwards are running for CD 18 in a field that includes Democratic State Rep. Julienned Jones of Houston. In a contest with serious competition that could grow between now and the deadline for candidates in September, Martin will hope to get a boost from the defiant performance at a committee hearing where the testimony had been predictable for hours with little displays of emotion.
Martin acknowledged from the start of his testimony that it would not change a vote "because the game is rigged" and the public hearing was purely for show. Martin echoed the testimony of witnesses before him who'd portrayed the Republicans in the Legislature as puppets for President Donald Trump.
Martin said Trump's endorsement was "the name of the game" for the Republicans in Austin. "That's what you have chosen to do with your time - because you are scared of Donald Trump," the CD 18 hopeful said.
"Ultimately what we need in this state are people who have the cajones to actually go forward and call this stuff out," Martin contended, "because what you guys have done to this state is cataclysmically horrific." He warned that the Republicans would pay the price when blue states retaliate.
The Select Congressional Redistricting Committee's chair - GOP State Rep. Cody Vasut of Angleton - tried to cut Martin off after the allotted time had expired. But Martin ignored the ruling and shook a finger angrily at the lawmaker. "You have no shame," Martin said. "None. Zero."
Vasut, who chaired the Redistricting Committee in regular session, had a committee official turn off the microphone at the witness table where Martin was seating. A second aide entered the room and tried to pull Martin away from the table with his hand on his shoulder before the two dragged him to the exit after the show of support from people in the hearing room.
more to come ...
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