In a massive blow to President Donald Trump's redistricting ambitions, Indiana Republicans have rejected a mid-decade gerrymander that would have erased the two Democratic-favoring districts in the state and given them to the GOP.
According to NBC News, 31 lawmakers in the state Senate voted to reject the redraw, with just 19 in favor — meaning even a majority of the 40-member Senate Republican caucus itself was opposed.
"The vote marked a rare and stunning instance of elected Republicans rebuking Trump, who had pressured Indiana lawmakers for months to pass new district lines," noted the report. "The GOP leaders of Indiana’s Senate had long resisted joining the unusual mid-decade redistricting battle playing out across the country, saying there wasn’t enough support in the chamber for a new map that was designed to dismantle the state’s two Democratic-controlled districts."
Trump and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly demanded that Indiana lawmakers capitulate to their demands, with Vance even repeatedly visiting the state to lobby them. Gov. Mike Braun (R), along with the entire Republican congressional delegation, also endorsed the plan. But it met headwinds in the state Senate, where a number of conservative Republicans were wary of the precedent it could set, and of the opposition from their own constituents.
After Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray repeatedly told Trump he did not have the votes to pass the gerrymander, he finally agreed to an up-or-down vote on whatever the state House passed. After a contentious committee battle and protracted debate on the Senate floor, the vote was finally cast on Thursday evening.
While all this was playing out, a number of Republican state senators who had either come out against or had not taken a public position on redistricting faced violent threats, with some being swatted at their homes. This reportedly hardened the resolve of at least some of the lawmakers in opposition to sticking to their guns, refusing to be intimidated.
