Trump and Vance Hit Unexpected Snag in Indiana

Former Republican Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels wrote an op-ed in Washington Post On Wednesday night, he urged Senate Republicans in his home state, who are currently opposing mid-cycle redistricting, to stand firm and not bow to pressure from the White House.

In the article, Daniels, who has rarely made policy statements since leaving office, argues that the only reason to redraw congressional districts mid-cycle would be to correct some “obvious injustice.”

“Republicans drew this map, and they have nothing to complain about unfairness; with about 60 percent of the state's total congressional vote, they won seven of nine House seats,” he wrote, before declaring there was no way to reform the lines around Indianapolis, one of the areas the Trump administration is pressuring Indiana Republicans with a new map that could reliably flip the region saturated with Democratic voters. in favor of the Republicans. He also warned of the consequences of trying to redraw lines in the northwestern part of the state.

“No amount of line-drawing can turn this area into a Republican seat, leaving the northwest corner of the state where the Democratic edge was in the mid-50s,” he wrote. “Conceivably, some computer could highlight the winning district for the Republican Party. This attempt, which may not even work, would, I am convinced, come at the expense of public revulsion; Hoosiers, like most Americans, value fairness highly and react poorly to its open violation.”

As TPM reported todayMany of President Trump's supporters in the Indiana Legislature are taking control of a pressure campaign that the White House has been mounting for months. Some have publicly threatened fellow Republicans in the state Senate who oppose Trump's mid-decade machinations to side with the national party and help Republicans retain the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.

The problem with the intimidation approach: The White House has been aggressively courting Republicans in the state legislature since August, trying to get them to redraw district lines for the two seats Indiana Democrats hold in the U.S. House of Representatives. Vice President J.D. Vance visited the state twice to justify the administration's position. And yet, they still don't have the votes to pass the new maps. The governor's office announced this earlier this week.

Daniels is the only prominent Republican politician I've ever seen publicly offering support to Republican members of the state Senate who want no part in Trump's efforts to rig the midterm elections by redrawing the boundaries of Congress in a way that predetermines the outcome.

“I do not underestimate the pressure Indiana's leaders are under, and I sympathize with them in the predicament they face, but I hope they will pursue this idea calmly and respectfully. Their duty is to the citizens and future of our state, not to a national political organization or the temporary occupant of the White House,” Daniels concluded in his Post op-ed. “And by the way, doing the right thing will indeed be rewarded.”

—Nicole Lafond

Virginia Dems Will Redraw Maps

Democrats in Virginia plan to take the first steps to redraw some congressional districts to potentially give their party two or three more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. So far, Virginia hasn't been high on anyone's list of potential Democratic countermeasures to offset the fallout from Trump's nationwide redistricting gambit.

Democratic state legislators announced plans today, making Virginia the second state where Democrats are trying to fight Trump's efforts to give Republicans an advantage in the midterm elections. More from New York Times:

No other Democratic states have begun redistricting proceedings, while several Republican states have drawn new maps or are considering doing so.

Democrats now hold six of Virginia's 11 congressional seats. Redistricting could give the party two or three extra seats, depending on how aggressive mapmakers decide to be in their redrawing efforts.

“We are coming back to discuss the actions of the Trump administration,” said Scott Surovell, Virginia Senate Majority Leader.

—Nicole Lafond

Trump listens to rich friends in San Francisco

Trump backed off his threat to send federal law enforcement to San Francisco on Thursday, sparing the city for now the same attack he has targeted other blue cities across the country under the guise of conducting immigration raids and supposedly fighting crime. He made the announcement in a Truth Social post where he admitted that his wealthy friends in the tech industry convinced him to leave new Mayor Daniel Lurie alone for now.

“The people of San Francisco have come together to fight crime, especially since we started taking responsibility for this very unpleasant topic. Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff and others have called and said the future is bright for San Francisco. They want to give it a shot. So we won't be attacking San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”

—Nicole Lafond

Dispatch from Lower Manhattan

Here's a report from my colleague Hunter Walker, who was on the ground near 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan for the second night in a row on Wednesday night. The building has become notorious as a place where the Trump administration unceremoniously rounds up immigrants before and after their trials.

Wednesday evening was quieter than Tuesday, when federal law enforcement carried out a massive immigration raid on Canal Street, a scene that New York City Public Advocate Jumaan Williams (D) described to TPM as “authoritarian.”