Indiana Republicans reject Trump's redistricting call

INDIANAPOLIS (CN) — The Indiana Senate voted Thursday against a bill that would have created a new congressional map favoring Republicans ahead of the 2026 elections.

Protesters of the bill could be heard cheering from the hallway and gallery as the supermajority Republican Indiana Senate voted 31-19 against the redistricting bill.

“Our state senators have been harassed, bullied and intimidated, and yet they stood tall to support a majority of Hoosier voices that said no mid-decade redistricting. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but those who stand up for the people will always be celebrated for doing so,” said Julia Vaughn, executive director of the voting rights group Common Cause Indiana.

The proposed map would have redrawn all of Indiana’s congressional districts and created nine districts that would all favor Republicans, giving the potential to flip the two U.S. House seats currently held by Democrats.

Opponents claimed that the map racially gerrymanders places like Marion County, which is comprised entirely of Indianapolis, by splitting it into four districts that stretch from the central Indiana city to the state’s edges.

Other opponents of the bill claimed that mid-decade redistricting would create logistical issues for local election officials who would have to scramble to complete the needed administrative work before next year’s elections.

The author of the bill, Republican Indiana House Representative Ben Smaltz said throughout the process that the map was drawn for “political performance.”

The senate’s rejection of the bill comes a week after the Indiana House of Representatives easily passed the bill 57-41, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats to vote against the measure.

Earlier in the year it appeared that the Indiana General Assembly would decline to take up the issue of redistricting but relented after facing pressure from President Donald Trump and Republican Indiana Governor Mike Braun.

Braun released a statement Thursday expressing disappointment in the vote.

“Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences," the governor said. “I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

Trump posted on his Truth Social account Thursday calling out Republican Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, saying any Republicans voting against redistricting would face primary challengers.

“If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats," Trump wrote. “Rod Bray and his friends won’t be in Politics for long, and I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again. One of my favorite States, Indiana, will be the only State in the Union to turn the Republican Party down!”

Alongside political pressure, Indiana lawmakers also faced violent threats leading up to the vote, including bomb threats and swatting attempts.

With the rejection of the bill assured, Republican State Senator Michael Young took the floor prior to casting his yes vote to express his displeasure in the outcome.

“Today, by this decision, we’ve told the Democrat Party to continue to redistrict as you’re doing, take five more of our congressmen away, cause we’re going to step down and step back,” Young said. “We’re not going to play in the games that you play.”