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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s Republican-led senate voted against a redrawn congressional map Thursday that would have favored their party in the 2026 elections, despite months of pressure by President Donald Trump for a rare mid-cycle redistricting.
Twenty-one senators from the Republican supermajority and all 10 of the chamber’s Democrats voted down the redistricting proposal. Trump has urged GOP-led states to gerrymander their U.S. house districts ahead of the midterms to create more winnable seats for Republicans. It’s an unusual move, since the district boundaries are usually adjusted based on the census every 10 year.
Ahead of the vote, Trump again criticized Indiana senators who resisted the plan, repeating his vow to back primary challengers against them.
“If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats,” Trump wrote on social media. Some Indiana lawmakers have also received violent threats during the debate over the last month. Half of the state Senate is up for reelection in 2026.
Democratic state senators spoke against the redistricting legislation one by one during Thursday’s session.
“Competition is healthy my friends,” said Sen. Fady Qaddoura. “Any political party on earth that cannot run and win based on the merits of its ideas is unworthy of governing.”
Outside the state Senate chamber, redistricting opponents chanted “Vote no!” and “Fair maps!” while holding signs with slogans like “Losers cheat.”
The proposed map was designed to give Republicans control of all nine of Indiana’s congressional seats, up from the seven they currently hold. It would effectively erase Indiana’s two Democrat-held districts by splitting Indianapolis into four districts that extend into rural areas, reshaping U.S. Rep. André Carson’s safe district in the city. It would also eliminate the northwest Indiana district held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan.
Despite Trump’s push, support for gerrymandering in Indiana’s Senate was uncertain. A dozen of the 50 state senators had not publicly committed to a stance ahead of the vote.
Republican Sen. Greg Goode, previously undecided, signaled his displeasure with the redistricting plan. In firmly delivered remarks, he said some of his constituents objected to seeing their county split up or paired with Indianapolis. He expressed “love” for Trump but criticized what he called “over-the-top pressure” from inside and outside the state.
Sen. Michael Young, another Republican, said the stakes in Congress justify redistricting, as Democrats are only a few seats away from flipping control of the U.S. House in 2026. “I know this election is going to be very close,” he said.
Republican Sen. Mike Gaskill, the redistricting legislation’s sponsor, showed Senators maps of congressional districts around the country, including several focused on Democratic-held seats in New England and Illinois. He argued other states gerrymander and Indiana Republicans should play by the same rules.
Nationally, mid-cycle redistricting so far has resulted in nine more congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six more congressional seats that Democrats think they can win. However, redistricting is being litigated in several states.
Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina quickly enacted new GOP-favorable maps, while California voters approved a new congressional map favorable to Democrats in response to Texas. In Utah, a judge imposed new districts that could allow Democrats to win a seat, saying Republican lawmakers violated voter-backed standards against gerrymandering.
The bill cleared its first hurdle Monday with a 6-3 Senate committee vote, although one Republican joined Democrats in opposing it and a few others signaled they might vote against the final version. The state House passed the proposal last week, with 12 Republicans siding with Democrats in opposition.
Among them was state Rep. Ed Clere, who said state troopers responded to a hoax message claiming a pipe bomb outside his home Wednesday evening. Indiana state police said “numerous others” received threats but wouldn’t offer details about an ongoing investigation.
In an interview, Clere said these threats were the inevitable result of Trump’s pressure campaign and a “winner-take-all mentality.”
“Words have consequences,” Clere said.
The White House has mounted an aggressive lobbying push. Vice President JD Vance met twice with Indiana Senate GOP leaders, including the full caucus in October, and senators also visited him in Washington.
Trump joined a conference call with senators on Oct. 17 to make his own 15-minute pitch. State Sen. Andy Zay said White House political aides stayed in frequent contact for more than a month, even after he backed the bill, urging him to publicly support it and track developments among colleagues as part of a “full-court press.”
Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Associated Press writer Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.
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