The Indiana House on Friday approved a new congressional map designed to net Republicans two seats, setting up a clash over the redistricting effort pushed by President Donald Trump in the state Senate.
The bill passed the state House, 57-41. But Republican leaders in the Indiana Senate have said there is not enough support for the map, which is designed to give the GOP control of all nine of the state's congressional districts. But the White House has pressured reluctant Indiana lawmakers for months to redraw their map as Trump seeks to shore up his party's narrow U.S. House majority ahead of next year's midterm elections.
“The Indiana Senate must now pass this Map, AS IS, and get it to Governor Mike Braun’s desk, ASAP, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the 'Hoosier State,' and across the Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday night.
He called out a group of nine state senators -- Jim Buck, Brian Buchanan, Ed Charbonneau, Brett Clark, Dan Dernulc, Blake Doriot, Greg Goode, Ryan Mishler and Rick Niemeyer -- whom he said "need encouragement to make the right decision."
"Let your voice be heard loud and clear in support of these Senators doing the right thing," he added.
The communications staffers for the nine senators, some of whom are up for re-election next year, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday night.
The fight has been divisive, leading to primary challenge threats and violent harassment against Republican lawmakers who oppose the new map. At least 11 elected Republicans in Indiana have been the victim of "swatting" attempts, which is when false police reports are made in an effort to draw an alarming law enforcement response, and other threats. Among them are Dernulc, Goode, and Niemeyer, whom Trump named in Friday's post.
Before he was swatted last month following previous criticism from Trump over redistricting, Goode’s spokesperson, Lance Gideon, told NBC News that the state senator “would not take a public stance" on the issue, "unless and until he saw an officially introduced map and legislation on the floor of the State Senate.”
Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan are currently the lone Democrats representing Indiana in Congress. The Republican-drawn map would break up their districts. It proposes splitting Indianapolis into four districts, diluting the state’s Democratic vote hub, and dividing the Democratic-leaning northwestern part of the state into two districts.
The map was drawn with politics first in mind, said Rep. Ben Smaltz, the Republican who introduced the legislation. He said it was drawn by the National Republican Redistricting Trust, a group that also drew Texas' new map.
The map passed the state House after more than three hours of remarks and condemnation from Democrats.
"This is a direct attack on the system, but more importantly, it’s a blatant tell that you don’t care what Hoosiers want," said state House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta.
Democratic state Rep. Matt Pierce slammed Republicans for attempting to draw Democrats completely out of the state's congressional delegation and conducting a rushed, unusual redistricting process.
"Imagine having to be a member of Congress, and when considering issues, having to represent communities in the middle of Indianapolis and communities in the rural areas down along the river, that’s a really hard thing to do," he said.
While state House Speaker Todd Huston made brief remarks in support of the map, Smaltz was the only other Republican who spoke in defense of it on Friday.
"While the census anchors the process, nothing in the law prevents a legislature from revisiting maps when circumstances demand it," he said.
Indiana is just the latest state to enter the unusually aggressive mid-decade redistricting push at Trump's behest. Republicans received a boost Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its new map, which could lead to the party netting up to five seats, in the 2026 elections.
California followed suit with a Democratic-drawn map that aims to cancel out any GOP gains in Texas that voters approved last month.
Republicans in Missouri and North Carolina have enacted new maps that could give the party an additional House seat in each state. Ohio lawmakers passed new district lines that may give Republicans a slight boost, while a court-ordered map in Utah will likely lead to a one-seat gain for Democrats.
Elsewhere, Republicans in Florida and Democrats in Virginia have taken initial steps toward redrawing their maps, efforts that will stretch into next year.
