Our Texas State Capitol was certainly an exciting place to be yesterday! I had watched the live stream of State Sentator Wendy Davis‘ filibuster of Senate Bill 5 off-and-on during the day. She was still going strong at 8 PM, so I decided to walk up to the capitol grounds to see what was happening…

Well, not much was going on outside the capitol except for a few stray protesters near the south gates—not unusual when the Texas legislature is in session. Since there was no line, I went through the security checkpoint to look around inside. The security guards said that the Senate gallery was full and that spectators were only admitted when someone else left their seat. Hundreds of people were waiting in a line that snaked all around the first and second floors and even up around the rotunda. I think the person waving his arms on the third balcony in this photo might be the last person in line.

With no hope of getting into the gallery, I decided to head back home to watch the proceedings online again. I eventually fell asleep before the filibuster ended and the Senate vote on SB 5 was attempted around midnight. Now Governor Perry has called another special session in July. Never a dull moment in Texas politics!