.

Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier hung up on a private call with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic officials this week after being told she could not be on it because it was a felony to do so while she was in the Texas Capitol.

Collier’s decision to abruptly end the conference call, which was first reported by Newsom’s office, illustrated the high-stakes tension that has consumed Texas’s controversial redistricting bill, Democrats have charged, would violate federal voting protections.

Collier, who was on the video call with Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and other party officials, had been at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday when members of the state House of Representatives were in session to debate a Republican-supported redistricting bill backed by former President Donald Trump. Collier, who used her time on the call to speak out against the measure, was on the House floor when she made the call. In her comments, Collier said that the proposed map would violate the Voting Rights Act and lessen the voting power of minority communities.

“This bill will prevent Black and brown individuals from selecting the candidates of their choice because they’re cracking and packing these districts,” she said.

She was about 30 minutes into the call, and Martin was speaking when she ended the call. “Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” Collier told the group of officials.

“I’m not allowed to be on the floor or in the bathroom,” she continued. She then looked off-camera.

“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said. She then turned back to the call.

“No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go.” She clicked away from the call.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) immediately jumped in, saying that the situation was “outrageous.”

“Let me tell you something, Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office,” he said.

Newsom nodded in agreement, and Booker went on.

“What they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman, and that is outrageous,” Booker said. “What we just witnessed, them trying to shut her down and saying it’s illegal for her to be in the bathroom and on this call, this is the lengths that they’re going to in Texas.”

California Releases Map to Offset Possible GOP Congressional Seats in Texas

The move from Texas Democrats to hang up on their leaders came during one of the most hotly contested redistricting fights the nation has seen.

Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives had left the state for two weeks in an attempt to stop Republicans from having a quorum, allowing the bill to be debated. That effort was fruitless, and Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials called for the lawmakers to be arrested. If the Democrats did not return to the state, Abbott and others threatened to remove the members from their seats.

Upon their return to the state Capitol in Austin, Democrats have said the state Capitol has a noticeably different feel for lawmakers returning to the Capitol. Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety have been assigned to monitor the lawmakers, with some following them through the building and others standing guard in offices. Lawmakers have described the process as signing “permission slips” to leave the Capitol, a part of a new security protocol officials said was meant to maintain the Capitol’s quorum.

The redistricting bill that Texas Democrats were protesting when Collier left the call could add as many as five GOP congressional seats, which Democrats have said would give Republicans a significant advantage for the next decade. That effort in Texas has now been answered by a plan from California Democrats. Newsom had worked with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to announce a new congressional map that would likely wipe out five Republican seats in California to offset GOP gains in Texas.

On Friday, the California congressional map was released.

The episode was one example of how the partisan redistricting fights happening in statehouses are now making their way to national politics. At a moment when Democrats and Republicans are both fighting for control of Congress in future elections, new districts matter more than ever. For Democrats, Texas has become a cause célèbre for what they see as not only a voting rights issue but a moment for them to fight back against what they see as a GOP attempt to suppress minority voices.