The lawsuit from Paxton is one of several ways Texas officials have pressured Democrats to return to the state for a vote on a congressional redistricting expected to add five Republican seats in the U.

Gov. Greg Abbott previously asked the court to expel Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader. Paxton disputed the governor’s authority to make the request.

The Texas Supreme Court should vacate the seats of 13 state House Democrats who left the state, Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in petitions filed Friday afternoon. Paxton’s filings, known as quo warranto petitions,