Some Indiana Republicans resist White House calls to redraw their congressional maps

Amna Nawaz:

The Indiana Senate today convened to debate the possibility of redrawing state congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election. The new proposed map would likely give Republicans two additional seats, and President Trump is highly invested in the outcome.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, has been watching all of this and joins me now.

Good to see you, Liz.

Liz Landers:

Thanks for having me.

Amna Nawaz:

It's a little unusual here, right? Because the Indiana Senate leaders first said they would not consider redistricting, that they didn't have support. They then reversed course. So what happened?

Liz Landers:

Well, this mid-cycle redistricting has now been moving through the Indiana Statehouse for about the last week or so. Today, it hit the Senate Election Committee, where they were debating this for several hours. We heard from the public, people speaking in opposition to this, also people speaking in support of redistricting in Indiana.

Last week, this passed out of the Indiana House, and it passed with an overwhelming majority. And this new congressional map would redraw the current Indiana map. Right now, the Indiana state delegation is made up of seven Republicans, two Democrats who represent them in Congress. This redrawing of the map would redraw it so that it would be nine likely Republican districts and no Democratic districts.

And the way that this would happen is dividing Indianapolis, the capital city, into four of these different districts, so diluting some of their voting power there. I spoke with the former Republican Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard on the phone last week. He said to me he's opposed to this.

He also thinks it's a bad idea because it will fray the community there and dilute the voting power of the folks in Indianapolis. So, this week, all eyes are now on the Senate. The Senate president pro tem, Rodric Bray, he is opposed to this redistricting effort in Indiana.

And he says that he thinks that there could be unintended consequences down the line for Republicans trying to consolidate power there. And even other Republicans who do support this, Senator Ron Alting, he backs this. He also doesn't think that this is going to pass out of the Senate this week.

State Sen. Ron Alting (R-IN):

Yes, the votes aren't there. There's — everyone's been talking about transparency and this and that. Nothing has changed. It's the same as it was when we came in a couple of months ago and started discussing this.

The votes have not changed. Hoosiers have got great values. And the threats and all that to my colleagues on the other side have done nothing but make them dig in even stronger. It's had a reverse effect on it.

Liz Landers:

We're expecting the Indiana State Senate to continue to debate this for the next few days, and then they will have a final vote probably on Thursday.

Amna Nawaz:

We know President Trump really wants to see this happen. He's been very vocal about it on social media as well, posted on TRUTH Social at least a half-a-dozen times about this in the last three weeks, including on Friday, when he posted this.

Quote:

"If they stupidly say no, vote them out of office. They are not worthy and I will be there to help. Thank you, Indiana."

Why is the president so interested in Indiana?

Liz Landers:

Well, one person that I spoke to who's close to the White House says that the president is highly interested and invested in this. Another person said that he is obsessed with this. He's been making calls around the clock to allies across the country about this.

And part of this comes down to the concerns both at the White House and within the larger Republican Party in Washington that the Republicans could lose the House next year in the 2026 midterms and how that could impact the president's agenda.

It's also why you have seen Vice President J.D. Vance flying to Indiana during the summer to talk about this. We understand from reporting that House Speaker Mike Johnson has been talking with lawmakers on the phone in Indiana about this as well, so sort of this all-hands-on-deck effort from Republicans here in D.C.

Amna Nawaz:

All the attention has also raised the political temperature. It seems to go beyond politics now, right? There have been some reports of death threats against some of the Indiana senators. Tell us more.

Liz Landers:

We have counted more than 10 Republicans in the Indiana Statehouse who've publicly posted or talked to local press about some of these death threats that they're getting.

Also, the governor there, Mike Braun, has been receiving some of these threats as well. Some of these include swatting incidents to people's homes, also their businesses. Some of these are also bomb threats.

But, Amna, in particular, one of the people who got one of these death threats, Senator Mike Bohacek, he's also a Republican. He is opposing this redistricting effort. And he says that it is in direct response to President Trump's own language. He has a daughter who has Down syndrome. He says he has been offended by the president's use of derogatory terms against other politicians.

And he wrote on social media — quote — "This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choice of words will have consequences."

Amna Nawaz:

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, reporting tonight.

Liz, thank you.

Liz Landers:

Thanks for having me.