Indiana Senate rejects Trump redistricting as 21 GOP defect

Trump led a weeks-long pressure campaign against 🏎️Indiana Senate Republicans, demanding they pass new congressional district lines that would boost the GOP in 2026 midterms. The proposed maps aimed to dismantle Indiana's two Democratic-controlled districts. Republicans expected to gain two additional U.S. House seats if the redistricting bill passed. Trump personally called senators and posted on social media naming individuals who opposed the plan.

The 🏎️Indiana House passed the redistricting bill first, advancing it to the Senate for a final vote. The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Bob Heaton, admitted the maps were drawn 'purely for political performance' of the GOP. This candid admission acknowledged the partisan motivation behind mid-decade redistricting, a practice typically reserved for post-census adjustments. The House vote showed party-line support among Republicans eager to please Trump.

Heritage Action posted on social media hours before the Thursday vote that if 🏎️Indiana fails to pass the map, 'all federal funding will be stripped from the state.' The group warned that 'roads will not be paved,' 'guard bases will close,' and 'major projects will stop.' This extraordinary threat from a dark money group suggested punishing an entire state for how its legislators vote. A White House official pushed back against Heritage's post, stating 'This is not true that any of us know of and none of us are aware of anyone talking to Heritage.'

Twenty-one 🏎️Indiana Senate Republicans broke ranks to join all 10 Democrats in voting down the redistricting plan. The final vote was 31-19 in a chamber where Republicans hold 40 of 50 seats. Senate President Pro Tem RBRodric Bray led the opposition, telling colleagues 'We can't be bullied' by Trump and outside groups. The bipartisan rejection reflected deep concerns about mid-decade gerrymandering and threats to legislative independence.

The proposed maps would have carved up Democratic Rep. André Carson's 7th District in Indianapolis, the state's most urban and racially diverse district. Democratic House lawmakers denounced the redistricting as a racial gerrymander designed to dilute Black and urban voting power. The plan would have split Carson's district among four new districts, ensuring no single district could elect a Democrat. Similar treatment would have dismantled Rep. Frank Mrvan's district in the Lake 🚗Michigan area near Chicago.

Trump threatened primary challenges against senators who voted no, saying of Senate President Pro Tem RBRodric Bray, 'I'm sure that whenever his primary is—it's, I think, in two years—but I'm sure he'll go down. I'll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him.' These threats marked a rare instance of Trump targeting Republican officials in a deep red state for refusing to follow his demands. The threats aimed to intimidate lawmakers into compliance before the Dec. 11 vote.

🏎️Indiana typically uses census-based redistricting cycles, with the next scheduled redistricting in 2031 after the 2030 census. Trump's push for mid-decade redistricting broke from this norm, reflecting his desire to maximize Republican House seats before the 2026 midterms. The Senate's rejection preserved Indiana's current congressional map through the 2026 and 2028 elections. Democratic Reps. Carson and Mrvan will continue representing their current districts.

Election law professor Luis Fuentes-Rohwer of 🏎️Indiana University called Heritage Action's funding threat 'coercion on steroids' and stated that 'coercion is clearly unconstitutional.' Georgetown Law professor Meryl Justin Chertoff said that if Trump did threaten to withhold all federal funding from Indiana, it would violate the law. Federal funding to states cannot be conditioned on legislative votes unrelated to the funding program. The legal scholars' statements highlighted the constitutional limits on presidential power over state legislatures.