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Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier abruptly ended a private call with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders earlier this week over concerns that she was committing a felony by being on the call while in the Texas Capitol.

The bizarre moment came as Democrats in Texas and California were taking sharp aim at the Lone Star State’s controversial redistricting bill, which party members in the former are trying to block in the Capitol, and the latter plan to use as a way to redraw its congressional map in a rebuke to Texas. Democrats in Texas are claiming the redistricting map violated federal protections of the right to vote, and some had fled the state for weeks in an attempt to block the bill.

Collier, who was on the video call with Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and other Democratic leaders at the time, entered the meeting as the Texas House of Representatives was deliberating over the redistricting bill, which had the backing of former President Donald Trump.

During her time speaking on the call, Collier said the new map, among other Republican-backed voting bills in Texas, was a violation of the Voting Rights Act and would make it more difficult for minority voters to vote for the candidates of their choosing.

“This bill will prevent Black and brown individuals from choosing the candidates that they want to choose because they’re cracking and packing these districts,” Collier said.

She later left the call during Martin’s remarks, telling the other leaders that she had to go because it was illegal for her to be on the call. Collier, who was in the Texas Capitol at the time of the meeting, can be seen quickly exiting the video call, first telling the other attendees, “Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” before hanging up on the call.

“I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom,” Collier said, before talking to another person off-camera. “You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said to the unknown individual, later addressing the other Democrats. “No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go,” she said, before she ended the call.

Collier’s hasty departure from the call surprised other leaders on the line, with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker calling out the situation immediately, saying it was “outrageous,” before moving on to praise the integrity of Collier.

“Let me tell you something, Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office,” Booker said. “What they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman, and that is outrageous,” Booker continued. “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.”

Democrats From Texas and California Intensify Battle Over Redistricting Lines

The confrontation between Texas lawmakers and the GOP leadership came just days after dozens of Democratic members in the state House fled the state for nearly two weeks as part of a dramatic effort to prevent Republicans from securing a quorum in the chamber and passing the controversial voting bill. Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP leaders in the state had also moved to have the missing lawmakers arrested, and even stripped lawmakers of their offices if they continued to abstain from the legislative session.

When Democrats eventually returned to Austin to resume their work, some lawmakers noted that the atmosphere had changed at the state Capitol. Texas Department of Public Safety officers were assigned to follow members around, with some guarding offices and trailing lawmakers through hallways. Some lawmakers noted they were even forced to sign “permission slips” before they were allowed to leave the Capitol under the increased security measures to ensure the Legislature had a quorum.

The Texas bill, if passed, could add as many as five new GOP congressional seats, which Democrats have said would give Republicans an outsized political advantage for the next decade. To counter the potential gains, Democrats in California announced their redistricting map, which Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) crafted to draw five congressional seats away from Republicans, mitigating some of the potential gains from Texas’s push.

On Friday, the California map was released, which would help Democrats draw on the West Coast what could otherwise be gains in the Lone Star State.

The moment highlighted the way redistricting battles in one state are spilling over into national politics, with both parties eager to make inroads in key congressional races in upcoming elections. For Democrats, the fight over voting rights in Texas has become both a symbolic victory against attempts to suppress minority voters and a rallying cry against GOP leadership.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Booker and Newsom for further comment, but did not receive an immediate response. Collier’s office also declined to give further details on the nature of her appearance in the Capitol, saying only that the Texas House was still in session.

For now, though, the incident remains one of the most explosive images of the fight so far: A lawmaker forced to disconnect from her party leaders in a Capitol bathroom after being told that she was breaking the law by being there. Texas Rep. Abruptly Leaves Call With Democrats After Being Told It’s a Felony to Attend