Having just suffered an electoral shellacking, Republicans in states that will soon inaugurate Democratic governors are desperately trying to undercut the powers these new governors will have.

GOP pressure campaigns are underway in Texas and Georgia to gin up support for slashing gubernatorial powers before Govs.-elect Gina Hinojosa and Keisha Lance Bottoms take office. In Texas, state Rep. Brian Harrison had a meltdown that played out on X, where he urged fellow Republican lawmakers to strip emergency powers from the governor before Hinojosa takes the reins from Greg Abbott.

“Without action, Governor Hinojosa will inherit the powers of a DICTATOR,” Harrison wrote, as if Abbott currently having those same powers is totally fine. Outgoing Texas Rep. Chip Roy gave the illiberal plan his blessing, as did a host of other MAGA propagandists.

It’s unclear whether this quest — to deprive Hinojosa of powers that millions of voters supported her having — will succeed. But a similar effort in Georgia appeared to die on Wednesday. That’s when Republican Gov. Brian Kemp officially rejected calls for a special session to curtail Bottoms’ powers and gerrymander Georgia’s congressional districts.

In a statement, Kemp said he wouldn’t call such a session because “the voters of our state have spoken.” That’s quite an endorsement of democracy — and a remarkable one coming from someone who has endorsed voter suppression tactics.

Indeed, that’s how democracy should work. But Republicans have resorted to this kneecapping tactic several times before.

North Carolina Republicans did this in 2016 and 2024. Wisconsin Republicans did it after their gubernatorial candidate lost in 2018. And that same year, Michigan Republicans took steps to limit gubernatorial powers after their candidate lost to Gretchen Whitmer.

Republicans would have you believe that they are defenders of freedom and liberty. But that rhetoric obviously doesn’t square with a party that routinely — and selectively — tries to usurp power from democratically elected leaders.

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