The political showdown over a mass quorum break by Texas House Democrats has escalated into a legal dispute now before the state’s highest court

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is asking the Texas Supreme Court to strip the alleged “ringleader” leading Texas Democrats of his elected office. Abbott filed an emergency petition Tuesday to remove Democratic Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu from his post.

Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Supreme Court this evening to declare vacant the seat of a key Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Gene Wu, one of the 50 quorum-breaking Democratic House members who fled the state.