Indiana Redistricting Effort Faces State Senate Resistance
Indiana Redistricting Effort Faces Potential Resistance In State Senate
The nationwide redistricting gained another entrant on Friday, when the Indiana state House passed a new congressional map.
Despite Indiana’s state legislature having a Republican supermajority, it’s not a forgone conclusion that the map will pass, as the state Senate has shown significant resistance against the redistricting effort. The state Senate will convene on Monday to discuss the bill, which will give us some idea of how many senators will publicly go against Indiana’s redistricting effort.
According to AP, the map approved by the state House eliminates the districts represented by Rep. André Carson and Rep. Frank Mrvan, Indiana’s only Democratic representatives in the state. Carson is also Indiana’s only Black congressman, as it simply wouldn’t be a Republican redistricting effort if it didn’t put a Black person out of a job.
Indiana has been a wildcard in President Donald Trump’s redistricting push. In July, Trump began pressuring several Republican state legislatures to trigger a rare mid-decade redistricting process. The GOP controls the House by a narrow margin, with Democrats only needing a net gain of three seats to flip control.
Texas was first to answer the call, drafting a new map that adds five new House seats in districts that favor Republicans. Missouri and North Carolina soon followed, implementing congressional maps that added one new House seat, favoring Republicans in both states.
The Trump administration made overtures to Indiana to trigger a redistricting effort around the same time. Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis twice in August, and Gov. Mike Braun visited the White House in October with several other state legislators. Braun called for a special session focused on redistricting last month, but Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray rejected it.
Bray has repeatedly said that the state Senate doesn’t have the votes to pass a new congressional map. As a result, Trump has publicly criticized the state Senate, threatening to support anyone who runs in a primary against legislators opposed to the redistricting effort. Trump’s attacks have been so heated that they’ve resulted in several state Senators being swatted.
I don’t know about you, but calling me out of my name to the point that I get swatted is a surefire way to make me do everything in my power to make sure you don’t get what you want.
No matter how Indiana’s state Senate votes on the redistricting effort, it will have rippling consequences in the national redistricting effort. Should it not pass, it will be yet another blow to Trump’s redistricting effort. While the Supreme Court ultimately ruled the Texas map can stay in play, California’s passage of Prop 50 will introduce a map that neutralizes those gains. In Missouri, a grassroots ballot campaign has gained enough signatures that it may take the new map out of play in the 2026 midterms and instead put it on the ballot. The Democratic gains in Virginia during November’s elections cleared the way for the state legislature to implement a redistricting effort that would give Democrats two to three more House seats.
Not to mention that while the Republican Matt Van Epps ultimately won a House seat during the Tennessee special election last week, the margin of victory was drastically smaller than expected, signaling that races in traditionally deep Red districts will be more competitive than usual.
Should the Indiana state Senate have a change of heart and pass the redistricting effort, it doesn’t exactly mean smooth sailing for Trump’s redistricting campaign. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has said that the state would consider entering the nationwide redistricting battle should Indiana pass a new map of its own.
On a legislative level, it’s clear that Democratic governors aren’t going to sit back and let the GOP gerrymander their way to victory. On a voter level, it’s becoming very apparent that despite only winning the presidency last year, the public has quickly grown tired of Trump’s erratic, ineffectual policies. While we’re still just under a year out from the midterms, and anything can happen, the GOP is going to need to land some serious Hail Marys if they intend to keep control of the House.
SEE ALSO:
Indiana Redistricting Push Stalls As Utah Potentially Has ‘Dummymandered’ Map
President Trump Eyes Florida And Indiana In Redistricting Push
Indiana House Convenes For Redistricting Push
Indiana Redistricting Effort Faces Potential Resistance In State Senate was originally published on newsone.com
