Republican efforts to secure a more favorable congressional map in Indiana ahead of the 2026 midterm elections collapsed Thursday when a bloc of GOP state senators joined Democrats to defeat a redistricting plan that would have handed the party total control of the states House delegation.
The proposal, which failed on a 1931 vote, would have converted Indianas current map into one that effectively guaranteed Republicans all nine U.S. House seats, a significant expansion of the partys already dominant position in the Hoosier State, according to the Daily Caller. Despite heavy pressure from President Donald Trump, senior national Republicans and conservative grassroots organizations, 21 Republican state senators broke ranks, dealing a blow to a broader mid-decade redistricting push designed to solidify GOP gains before 2026.
The Indiana setback trims the national advantage Republicans had hoped to cement after Trump earlier this year urged Texas lawmakers to adopt a new map creating five additional GOP-leaning districts. That Texas move helped ignite a mid-cycle redistricting battle in multiple states, as Republicans sought to counter years of aggressive Democratic map-drawing in blue strongholds and court-driven rewrites in swing states.
Uncertainty over the Indiana outcome lingered until the final hours before the vote, with several key Republican senators refusing to disclose their positions publicly. The suspense underscored a growing divide inside the party between those aligned closely with Trumps hardball political tactics and others more wary of the optics and legal risks of overtly partisan line-drawing.
Republican State Sen. Greg Goode, one of the lawmakers who kept his stance under wraps until the floor debate, acknowledged the influence of Trump and other pro-redistricting advocates but insisted his primary obligation lay closer to home. I am confident my vote reflects the will of my constituents, Goode said during a floor speech, invoking what he called Hoosier common sense.
Another Republican no vote, Sen. Spencer Deery, framed his opposition in terms of public trust and institutional integrity, signaling discomfort with the perception of a raw power grab. He argued that he found no justification that outweighs the harms it would inflict upon the peoples faith in the integrity of our elections and our system of government.
Deery directly addressed the argument that Republicans should mirror Democrats aggressive gerrymandering tactics in states they control, but he rejected the timing and method. Some say we should gerrymander because Democrats have been doing it for years and its time for Republicans to catch up, Deery said ahead of the vote. That would be a sensible question to ask four years ago or four years in the future.
Trump, who has repeatedly urged Republicans to wield power as unapologetically as Democrats do in blue states, had zeroed in on Indianas Senate President pro tempore Rodric Bray in the weeks leading up to the vote. Over the past month, the President castigated Bray for resisting calls to open a special session, accusing him of hiding behind claims that the GOP lacked the necessary votes.
On Truth Social, Trump branded Bray a Republican in name only and threatened political retribution against any GOP lawmaker who opposed the map. Anybody that votes against Redistricting, and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C., will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring, Trump wrote in a lengthy Wednesday post, adding, Rod Bray and his friends wont 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.
The pressure campaign extended beyond Trump, as Vice President JD Vance publicly accused Bray of duplicity in his handling of the issue. That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side, Vance wrote on X, alleging that Bray had claimed neutrality in public while privately urging colleagues to vote no.
Outside conservative groups also weighed in, with Turning Point Action, the political arm of Turning Point USA, mounting an aggressive push for passage of the map. The organization staged a rally at the Indiana Capitol and threatened an eight-figure campaign against Republican lawmakers who opposed the redistricting plan, signaling that the fight over party discipline and ideological purity would not end with Thursdays vote.
On the Senate floor, Goode criticized what he described as an unhealthy level of outside interference in Indianas internal political deliberations. He said forces beyond the states borders had been infiltrating the political affairs of Indiana, citing cruel social media posts and over-the-top pressure that included threats of primaries and threats of violence.
The climate around the vote grew even more toxic as several Republican senators were targeted with bomb threats and swatting incidents in the weeks leading up to the final decision. State Sen. Mike Bohacek, who received one of the threats, condemned the escalation, saying, This recent pattern of threatening behavior and intimidation attempts is not only concerning, but also illegal.
Bohacek, the father of a daughter with Down syndrome, also cited Trumps rhetoric as a factor in his opposition to the map, pointing to the Presidents use of the word retard to describe Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in connection with a welfare fraud scandal involving Somalians in that state. Bohacek said that remark weighed heavily on his conscience as he weighed whether to reward Trumps demands with a vote in favor of the new lines.
Indianas refusal to adopt the map stands in contrast to Republican successes elsewhere, where the party has moved aggressively to maximize its structural advantage in the House. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have all approved new GOP-friendly maps, bringing the total likely Republican pickups in 2026 to nine seats when combined with the Texas overhaul.
Yet the broader redistricting offensive has not been seamless, as evidenced by a stall in Kansas in November when Republican state House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced he lacked the votes to convene a special session to redraw the map targeting the states lone Democratic member of Congress. That hesitation, like Indianas revolt, reflects a faction of Republicans who remain uneasy about pushing the envelope too far, even as Democrats in blue states move in the opposite direction.
On the left, the map wars are intensifying, with California voters approving a partisan measure in November that could hand Democrats as many as five additional House seats. A Utah judge recently selected a congressional map that offers Democrats one pickup opportunity, while Virginia Democrats are maneuvering to redraw their own lines in a bid to add up to four seats to the national Democratic tally.
For conservatives, Indianas vote raises hard questions about whether some Republican officials are prepared to match Democrats ruthlessness in shaping the electoral battlefield, or whether concerns about optics, rhetoric and pressure from outside groups will continue to fracture the partys strategy. With Democrats openly pursuing every available structural advantage, the GOPs internal divisions over redistricting could prove decisive in determining who controls the House after 2026.
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