.

Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier abruptly left a private call with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders this week, saying it was a felony for her to participate in the meeting while in the Texas Capitol.

The exchange, caught on video, was a stark illustration of the high-stakes fight over Texas’s controversial redistricting bill, which Democrats claim violates federal voting protections.

Collier, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, was on a video conference call with Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and other Democratic leaders. Collier was on the call while in the Texas Capitol, while the state House was considering a redistricting bill that was backed by former President Donald Trump. In her comments to the group, Collier described the map as violating the Voting Rights Act and said the map would diminish the political power of minority voters.

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

She was about 30 minutes into the meeting, with Martin speaking, when she cut into his remarks to say she had to leave.

“I have to leave. Sorry. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” Collier said. “I’m getting kicked out of here. I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom,” she added, before speaking to an individual off-camera.

“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said to the individual. “Okay. No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go.” She then cut off the call.

Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, immediately denounced the treatment of Collier, calling it “outrageous” and complimenting her for being in the bathroom.

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

Newsom, who was on the call, nodded in agreement.

Booker continued, his comments expanding to an attack on Republicans at large and what he said was a direct effort to silence a Black woman lawmaker.

“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.”

Tex. Democrats Had Been Living ‘Restricted to the Bathroom’ in Wake of Runaway Fight

The backdrop to the incident was one of the hardest-fought redistricting battles in the nation. Dozens of Texas House Democrats fled the state two weeks before blocking Republicans from gaining a quorum and advancing their legislative priorities, including the state’s redistricting bill. Abbott and other GOP leaders ordered the absent members arrested and potentially removed from office if they did not return.

Once they finally returned to Austin, members reported a very different state Capitol. Many members said Texas Department of Public Safety officers had been assigned to follow them, guarding their offices and escorting them around the Capitol. They described the security presence as a form of intimidation and political maneuver to maintain quorum.

In one incident, lawmakers described DPS officers ordering them to sign “permission slips” to leave the Capitol and not return — a sign of the type of political wrangling that ensued when Democrats tried to regain control.

The controversial redistricting bill itself could create as many as five new Republican congressional seats, Democrats charge. The additions, they said, could cement GOP power for the next decade. In response, California Democrats announced that their state would offer up some of its congressional seats. On Thursday, Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) unveiled a new congressional map in California that would wipe out five GOP seats.

The goal, as Newsom put it to Fox News Digital earlier in the week, was to keep the congressional race even and ensure no overall GOP seat growth.

On Friday, the California map was released, showing the Democrats’ plans for how to redraw representation on the West Coast in a way that could undo any Republican gains that Texas offered up.

The event showed how, in the age of naked partisanship over redistricting battles in state capitols across the country, the fight in one state is bleeding into national politics. With both parties vying for control of Congress, each new district matters. For Democrats, the fight in Texas was already being seized upon as a symbol of voting rights infringements, and it now has added insult that could help galvanize members in a fight to end what they see as minority voter suppression.

Fox News Digital contacted the offices of Booker and Newsom for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Collier’s office declined to offer further comment, saying that the Texas House is currently in session.

For now, the image of Collier running off a conference call while being chased by security in a Texas Capitol bathroom will loom large. Texas Rep. Nicole Collier Hangs Up on Call With Gavin Newsom, Dems After ‘Felony’ Warning

Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier of Texas abruptly ended a private call with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic officials this week after being warned that it was a felony for her to be on the call while at the Texas Capitol.

“I have to leave, sorry. I have to go. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” Collier told the group, leaving the conversation from a bathroom at the Capitol during the Texas House’s floor session.