In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan

Indiana lawmakers voted 19 to 31 against the congressional redistricting called for by President Donald Trump in his attempt to help Republicans win the 2026 midterm elections.

The defeat today in the Indiana Senate, where 40 of the 50 members are Republicans, is the first time Trump's redistricting campaign has been voted down by members of his own party. Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have answered his call for an unusual mid-decade redistricting scramble. 

Sen. Greg Goode (R-Terre Haute) was the first lawmaker to face a swatting attempt and has been called out on social media by Trump himself. 

Goode, who has held a town hall on the bill, relayed what he said he’d heard from constituents, reading off direct quotes. He said constituents were largely against it, to cheers from protestors outside the chamber.

Goode called on lawmakers to focus on what really matters to constituents - issues of affordability and job creation. 

“My vote on this legislation will reflect just that: common sense,” he said. 
 

Senator Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) said he felt mid-decade redistricting would undermine the people’s faith in the electoral process and was not in line with conservative principles. 

“My opposition to mid-cycle gerrymandering is not in contrast to my conservative principles, my opposition is driven by them,” Deery said. “As long as I have breath, I will use my voice to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct, and control this state or any state. Giving the federal government more power is not conservative.” 

The move was also opposed by Indiana Democrats, who currently hold just two of the state's nine U.S. House seats and said it would dilute the voting power of minority communities.

Democrats each took time to speak out against the bill on Thursday. J.D. Ford (D-Carmel) called on the Senate to use common sense and fairness.

"We have a real opportunity to be a national leader," Ford said. "We can rise above the political noise and say no to this map."

"The fact that something is legal doesn't make it right," added Fady Qaddoura (D-Indianapolis). "Legality alone cannot be our compass to sideline and suppress the will of the people."

Usually, states redistrict early in the decade after the decennial census count. 

Trump has urged Republican-led states to conduct an unusual, mid-decade redistricting effort aimed at helping Republicans hold onto their majority in the U.S. House in next year's midterm elections. California Democrats responded with their own redistricting effort but so far red states have gained a few-seat advantage over blue states.

The Indiana vote came after weeks of turmoil and with opposition from some Republicans, who had said their constituents did not want to alter the current districts. 

Outside of the chamber ahead of the vote, protestors could be heard chanting "vote no" and "Hoosiers fight fair."

Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, has supported Trump's demand for redistricting and both of them have threatened to back primary challengers running against senators who don't support redistricting. 

As the Senate debated the bill to redistrict, Vice President Vance tweeted that the Republican Senate President, Rodric Bray, had told the administration he wouldn't fight redistricting while whipping his members against it. "That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded," Vance wrote. 

On social media, Trump railed against the Indiana Republican Senate leader and his "friends" ahead of the final vote, saying he would do everything in his power to make sure they would not hurt the Republican Party or the country again. 

Republicans who backed redistricting said it was for political gain to help keep the U.S. House in Republican control and noted that some Democratic-led states have redrawn their districts to favor Democrats in the past.

"Only a handful of districts throughout the United States will determine who controls Congress. We may or may not do our part today to keep our nation in the hands of Republicans and do the right thing for our state," Republican Senator Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) told the chamber. "Whether we choose to play the game or not play the game, we will determine the fate of our state and country." 

Young wasn’t alone in pointing to Democratic unfairness in other states. 

“I refuse to be lectured about tradition and norms when the other side plays for keeps,” said Sen. Chris Garten (R-Charlestown). “Some people say these maps are political, you’re damn right they are.”

The vote margins are enough to keep lawmakers from taking the bill back up this session. 

Democrats cheered at the bill's failure. 

Contact Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org