The Republican leader of the Indiana Senate said the chamber would not meet to redraw the state's congressional map, rejecting pressure from President Donald Trump and the state's governor.
“Today I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said in a statement.
The White House has repeatedly pushed Indiana, where Republicans control seven of nine congressional seats, to join the national mid-decade redistricting push to shore up the party's narrow House majority in next year's midterm elections. Vice President JD Vance visited the state twice to press lawmakers, while Trump called legislators recently.
Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun called a special legislative session last month to try to force the issue. State lawmakers had initially said that to save money, they wouldn’t meet until a regularly scheduled session in December, before pulling the plug on it Friday afternoon.
"I called for our legislators to convene to ensure Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, DC are not diluted by the democrats’ gerrymandering," Braun said in a post on X. "Our state senators need to do the right thing and show up to vote for fair maps."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump ally Alex Bruesewitz called for the Indiana Republicans who were blocking the redistricting effort to be ousted.
"Spineless RINO 'legislators' have sabotaged and buried Republicans' vital redistricting push," Bruesewitz said on X. "The entire MAGA movement will be mobilizing to Indiana to PRIMARY and OUST every last RINO blocking these essential reforms to RESCUE our nation, this will include the totally clueless and weak State Senate President."
Indiana is one of a handful of states where state lawmakers have resisted pressure to redraw their map. Kansas Republicans decided not to call a special session this year on redistricting, but could revisit the issue next year. Republicans in Nebraska and New Hampshire declined to move forward with a redistricting push. And some Democrats in Maryland and Illinois have defied calls from state and national leaders to consider a new map.
Trump successfully pushed Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to enact new congressional lines outside of the usual decennial process that are designed to boost the GOP. A new map in Ohio, which was required by law, also provides Republicans with more favorable districts.
California Democrats countered with a map, approved by voters last week, that could net the party additional seats, while Virginia Democrats have taken steps toward a similar effort.
