Indiana Senate Republicans are not backing President Donald Trump's gerrymandering scheme to maintain control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.
Molly Swigart, spokeswoman for Indiana Senate President pro tempore Rodrick Bray, put it simply when speaking with Politician Wednesday. “Votes are not needed for redistricting,” she said.
Four people familiar with the matter spoke anonymously to Politico, and two of them suggested Bray and his leadership team objected to mid-cycle redistricting. “If Bray had personally released his leadership to support this, there would have been enough votes to pass this decision,” one of these people said.
The White House reportedly conducted a telephone poll that showed a majority of Republicans support redistricting efforts. But one Republican said their colleagues were confused by the poll's instructions and that the White House had not provided specific guidance on how to proceed with redistricting.
Three of the people who spoke anonymously to Politico said Gov. Mike Brown was inclined to call a special election to redraw the state's congressional district maps and win more GOP seats. In September Brown had swam idea of bringing lawmakers back for a special session in November and warned that going against Trump's wishes could have “consequences.”
A Brown spokesman told Politico that the governor is “confident” he can secure a Republican majority in the state Senate to “ensure fair representation in Congress.”
The Trump administration has previously called Indiana will follow other states' lead in redistricting and give Trump one or two additional Republican House seats. In August, Vice President J.D. Vance met with more than 55 Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives to press for their approval of the new map, and Trump met privately with the Republican leaders of the Indiana House and Senate in the Oval Office.
Trump's redistricting efforts are widespread across the country. On Wednesday, North Carolina Republicans past a new congressional map that weakened the voting power of black residents and consolidated districts to make them more conservative, likely giving the GOP another seat in Congress.
