(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indiana is the latest of several states redrawing congressional lines as its state Senate is set to convene Thursday to continue considering a bill that would give the state a new Republican-friendly congressional map, and may vote later in the day on whether to pass the map.
However, even though Republicans have a majority in the state’s Senate, with a 40-10 majority, enough GOP legislators might oppose the bill to sink it.
Indiana currently has seven Republican and two Democratic members of the U.S. House — and changes to the map could help Republicans get additional congressional seats in 2026 as they work to maintain their razor-thin majority in the lower chamber and advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The proposed map, which would make both of the Democratic-held U.S. House districts lean Republican, has been supported by the White House and Indiana’s governor. Vice President JD Vance has also made multiple visits to the state in recent months to encourage redistricting.
But multiple Republican state senators have said their constituents do not want redistricting or that they feel it is the wrong choice for Indiana, and there could be enough GOP senators voting no on the map along with Democrats for the bill to fail to pass.
The map bill passed through committee and procedural votes earlier this week.
Trump, on Friday, wrote on social media that the state Senate “must now pass this Map, AS IS, and get it to Governor Mike Braun’s desk, ASAP, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the ‘Hoosier State,’ and across the Country.”
In another post on Wednesday, he ratcheted up the pressure on state Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray — who has indicated the Senate does not have enough votes to pass the map — and senators opposed to redistricting.
“Anybody that votes against Redistricting, and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C., will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring,” Trump said in his post.
“Rod Bray and his friends won’t be in Politics for long, and I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again,” he added.
Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed to POLITICO that he had called state senators to encourage them to vote yes on the map.
Republican state senators in Indiana have also faced political pressure from conservative groups such as Turning Point Action, which said it will spend in primaries against state senators if they don’t support mid-decade redistricting. Another conservative group, Club for Growth, said it sponsored ads encouraging legislators to redistrict and invested in phone campaigns.
David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth and a former member of Congress from Indiana, told ABC News on Wednesday that he understood why some GOP senators in the Hoosier state opposed redistricting.
“It’s a conservative state, both philosophically, but also in approach. And so it’s like, ‘You got to show me why we’re doing this, why we should make a change,'” he said.
McIntosh expressed confidence that the bill would pass, particularly now that senators have been able to look at the map itself.
Asked if there’s any concern that putting too much political pressure on lawmakers might be detrimental to Republican mid-decade redistricting hopes in the long run, McIntosh indicated he didn’t think so.
“I think in the excitement of the moment, people may say very aggressive things, but it’s our approach to just persuade the Republicans why this is a good idea, and I’m very optimistic that that’s where they’re going to end up [voting for the map],” he said.
One Republican state senator who has previously said he is a firm no on the new map, state Sen. Michael Crider, told reporters on Wednesday that he isn’t changing his stance.
Separately, some senators opposed to or undecided on mid-decade redistricting say they have faced bomb or swatting threats to their homes. Law enforcement has not shared any motive for the threats, which have received bipartisan condemnation.
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