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AUSTIN, Texas Signs of a fractured Republican Party in Texas have Democrats hoping to seize an opportunity to gain some ground.

They say Hillary Clinton won 10 Texas districts in 2016 that Republicans currently hold. Progressive Texas groups, which call their collective One Texas Resistance, told state leaders Wednesday to "respect us or expect us."

"We will not allow them to harm our communities, our kids, or rob us of our rights and our basic humanity," said Emmitt Shelling of the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

They called Gov. Greg Abbott's conservative special session agenda "distracting and destructive." They're fighting against the so-called sanctuary cities law lawmakers passed this session and that's facing a court challenge.

Leaders also said they plan to challenge several abortion restrictions passed this summer.

"We know that these laws do absolutely nothing to protect our lives," said Amanda Williams of the Lilith Fund.

Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, said Hillary Clinton won at least 42 percent of the vote last November in 20 districts that Republicans control.

"In 10 of those districts, Hillary Clinton won," he said. "Our message today to Republicans is that if you're not representing the values of hardworking Texans, we are coming after you."

State Republican Party Chair James Dickey says he's not at all worried.

"Republicans in Texas are happy with the progress that we've made just in the last few weeks and want to see more progress."

Dickey said the Legislature accomplished half of the ten priorities Republicans laid out last year. There's one priority, however, that seems to keep dividing House and Senate lawmakers: property taxes.

"We didn't see major progress on that," he said.

The stalemate led to flurry of GOP in-fighting that One Texas Resistance hopes to seize.

Lawmakers could be forced to come back to redraw congressional maps. A federal court called out two districts Tuesday for being discriminatory. That includes Lloyd Doggett's district, which spans from Austin to San Antonio.

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Texas Democrats to Republicans: Respect us or expect us - Spectrum News