“We’ve Had Enough”
Nicole Collier’s Revolt Against GOP Control
In a historic moment for Texas and our country’s democracy, State Rep. Nicole Collier did what few dared: she stood her ground, refusing the unconstitutional demands of Republicans bent on crushing dissent. Her resistance is no mere gesture—it’s a rallying cry for all who believe in elected representation and the raw power of principled defiance. In Texas, the battle isn’t just about maps or votes. It’s about whether lawmakers can serve without fear, surveillance, or coercion. Collier stands unbowed against government overreach, and her fight deserves to echo as a lesson, a warning, and a spark for all of us to stand up for our democracy.
Surveillance, Quorums, and the Weaponization of Power
On August 18, 2025, Republicans escalated their crackdown with forced permission slips and 24-hour police surveillance. Any Democrat who returned after breaking quorum faced a brutal choice: surrender their freedoms and dignity and submit to daily monitoring or endure effective political house arrest—locked on the chamber floor, barred from leaving, resting, or living freely.
Nicole Collier, representing Fort Worth, refused to sign. She called the “permission slip” what it was: a surrender to dictatorship and authoritarianism, transforming her from a legislator into a political prisoner.
“I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control movements and monitor me with police escorts.”
-Representative Nicole Collier
Collier isn’t staging theatrics. She is defending rights guaranteed by both the Texas and U.S. Constitutions—rights the GOP shredded with their surveillance regime.
The Legal Reality: Unconstitutional Detention
Texas law allows the House to compel absent members back for quorum, but Republicans twisted that authority into something grotesque. The Constitution and courts are clear: lawmakers may be returned if absent, but no law allows detaining those present and working. Collier was imprisoned not for absence but for refusing unlawful surveillance.
No warrant. No charges. No judicial oversight. The Fourth Amendment’s shield against unreasonable seizures doesn’t vanish at the Capitol doors. The Texas Constitution forbids executive control over legislators. By demanding lawmakers sign away liberty, Republicans staged an indefensible breach—a state-sanctioned abuse of power destined to collapse under federal scrutiny.
“We’ve Had Enough”: Collier’s Rebellion
Collier’s defiance is more than legal principle—it’s raw rebellion. In a late-night interview, Nicole cut through the fog:
“I’ve had enough. We’ve had enough.”
She knew the cost. The cameras. The police. The rules designed to grind her down. Still, she chose the discomfort of resistance over the quiet treachery of compliance. Most powerful of all was the truth: her stand was for constituents whose voices Republican maps aimed to erase.
Trey Martinez Fischer Holding the Line in Chicago
In Chicago, Democratic Caucus Chair Trey Martinez Fischer continues to fight from exile. His walkout isn’t delay—it is a barricade against Trumpist engineering in a state with the nation’s second-largest Latino and Black populations.
“This democracy is being stolen right before our eyes,” Fischer warned, blasting Republican redistricting as racist rigging. “We are governed by very extreme Republicans who perfected the art of stacking, packing, and cracking communities of color so they will never have a voice.”
From afar, Fischer stands as a firebrand of principle—risking fines, lawsuits, even exile to keep democracy alive. His defiance proves democracy isn’t polite speeches; it’s the grit to risk everything when power turns lawless.
Democrats MUST Continue to Stand Up for our Democracy
Other Democratic members of the Texas legislature on their return to the state, rallied to support Collier as a direct assault on liberty. Yet all but Collier signed the waivers. Why didn’t others stand up? It’s one thing to say you are standing shoulder-to-shoulder to resist and to call for her “fortitude, strength, and commitment to fight,” it’s another thing to join that fight.
A Rallying Cry for Democracy
Nicole Collier’s stand rings out as a clarion call to Texans and Americans alike. Her defiance—her refusal to submit to unconstitutional actions and to represent those she was sworn to represent, her cry of “We’ve had enough”—is more than civil disobedience. It’s a battle line, a spark, a declaration that democracy will not be policed into silence.
We must make it echo far and wide. We must make it multiply.
#WeveHadEnough
Call to Action
Join Texas Congresspeople, Representatives, politicians, and other activists TONIGHT at 7PM CT to stand with Texas Democrats as they fight back against the Republican authoritarian regime.
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