Redistricting in Indiana faces ultimate test in state Senate
[December 08, 2025]
By ISABELLA VOLMERT
A proposal to redraw Indiana's congressional boundaries faces its first
public test in the state Senate on Monday, with no clarity on whether it
can pass a final vote later in the week despite months of pressure from
President Donald Trump.
Senators will take action on a bill designed to favor GOP candidates in
the upcoming midterm elections. However, many Republicans, who control
the chamber, have been hesitant or even outright opposed to the idea of
mid-decade redistricting. Several have also been threatened over their
opposition or unwillingness to immediately declare support.
Their deciding votes could test Trump's typically iron grip on the
Republican Party. Monday's expected committee hearing could give a first
glimpse at how many senators plan to go on record against the bid to
consolidate power in the staunchly conservative state.
The map introduced just last Monday and passed by the Republican super
majority in the state House on Friday splits the city of Indianapolis
into four districts, distributed across other Republican-leaning areas.
It also groups the cities of East Chicago and Gary with a wide swath of
rural counties in northern Indiana.
The contours would eliminate the districts of the state's two Democratic
congressional representatives: longtime Rep. André Carson, representing
Indianapolis, and Rep. Frank Mrvan, representing northwest Indiana near
Chicago. Carson is the state's only Black member of Congress.
Republicans currently hold seven of the state's nine districts.
Democrats are hoping to flip control of the U.S. House in the 2026
elections and like their odds, since midterms tend to favor the party
opposite the one in power.
Redistricting is typically done once a decade following the census. But
Trump has pushed Republican-led states to squeeze out more districts
winnable for Republicans as a result. Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North
Carolina have followed suit, while Democrats in California and Virginia
have moved to draw their own favorable districts in response.
But the idea of redrawing a congressional map last approved in 2021 has
made many Republicans in Indiana uneasy, particularly in the Senate. The
leader of the state Senate previously said there were not enough votes
in support of redistricting. But where the vote count stands going into
Monday is unknown.
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Senators meet in the senate chamber at the Statehouse, Feb. 1, 2024,
in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)
Senators are scheduled to meet on the floor at 12:30 p.m., and the
Senate elections committee is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m.
The White House has upped the pressure on Indiana. Vice President JD
Vance visited Indianapolis twice since August, and legislative
leaders met with Trump in the Oval Office earlier this year.
After the leader of the state Senate, Republican Rodric Bray, said
the chamber would reject the governor's call for a special session
on redistricting, Trump repeatedly lashed out at Bray and other
state Senators on social media. Trump promised to endorse primary
challengers to any state lawmaker who opposes redistricting.
In the weeks following, about a dozen state lawmakers were the
victims of threats and swatting, in which a hoax call is made to
police to elicit a law enforcement response, typically to someone's
home.
In the 50-person Senate chamber, redistricting proponents need at
least 25 “yes” votes to give final passage to the map. That would
trigger a tiebreaking vote from Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith,
who is in favor of redistricting.
If the Senate were to vote against the new map, it would be
extremely difficult for proponents to try again. The deadline to
file to run for Congress in Indiana is in early February, and
primary elections are held in early May.
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Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan.
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