Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday that he would be willing to call indefinite special sessions of the state’s legislature to force through a new congressional map, attempting to escalate pressure on Texas Democrats who have stonewalled votes by fleeing the state.

“This could literally last years,” Abbott said on Fox News. “As soon as this one is over, I’m going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one.”

The scorched-earth fight between the governor’s camp and the Texas Democrats who are depriving the state’s legislature of a quorum by decamping to California, Illinois and other blue states only escalated through last week with various legal challenges. 

Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) have filed lawsuits seeking to declare the blue lawmakers’ seats vacant. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is locked in a bitter primary with Paxton, has also sought to set his own tack by claiming the FBI was helping execute civil warrants to bring the Democrats back to the state. It’s not clear if the bureau has actually done so.

The more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who have left the state face $500 fines for each day they hold up legislative business. Many of them have looked to political donors to help cover the costs.

The battle over redistricting has also threatened to spill over into other states. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Friday he would seek a special election to allow Democrats to redraw the state’s House map, potentially offsetting gains made in red states like Texas. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who appeared on Fox after Abbott, is also mulling redistricting.

Abbott, however, dismissed blue-state efforts to redraw the maps as “weak sauce,” claiming that those states had already engaged in partisan gerrymandering to the maximum possible extent.

“They’ve run out of Republicans they can remove from office,” he said.