T exas House Democrats who left the state to prevent a vote on new congressional maps will return to Texas, feeling they have accomplished their mission of killing the first special session, raising awareness and sparking national backlash about the mid-decade redistricting, multiple sources confirmed to ABC station KTRK and ABC News on Tuesday.

Gov. Greg Abbott warns he’ll immediately call another special session if Texas House Democrats don’t return by Friday to end the redistricting standoff.

The Texas Senate’s packed floor session Tuesday wasn’t without its own political drama. Early on, nine of the chamber’s Democrats walked out to protest the same Republican-backed plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts that prompted the House quorum break earlier this month.