Indiana map redraw stalls for lack of GOP lawmaker support
After a private vote and months of discussion, Indiana lawmakers said they won’t have enough votes to accomplish a mid-decade redistricting. President Donald Trump for months has pushed Indiana and other states to redraw maps that are more favorable to Republicans.
The White House has told Indiana lawmakers to meet with the president in the Oval Office as early as next week to discuss the next steps. Indiana is one of four states where Republican redistricting efforts have stalled.
What happened in Indiana?
Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray announced Friday he would not convene lawmakers in December to vote on the measure. He said this wasn’t a decision made lightly and came after months of “thoughtful consideration.”
“Over the last several months, Senate Republicans have given very serious and thoughtful consideration to the concept of redrawing our state’s congressional maps,” Bray said in a statement. “Today, I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December.”
Republican Gov. Mike Braun criticized the announcement, saying state senators “need to do the right thing.”
“I called for our legislators to convene to ensure Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, D.C., are not diluted by the Democrats’ gerrymandering,” the governor said in a statement. “Our state senators need to do the right thing and show up to vote for fair maps. Hoosiers deserve to know where their elected officials stand on important issues.”
Trump had wanted lawmakers to create a map where all nine districts had a GOP edge. The current map, drawn by Republicans in 2021, holds a 7-2 Republican majority.
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the measure had enough support in the state House to pass, but only 13 of the 40 state senators publicly announced their support of the proposal. At least eight Republican senators publicly opposed it.
However, Politico reports that the Senate has nearly enough votes to pass the proposal. The source claimed Bray is trying to protect Republicans who may not vote for it.
What states have voted to redistrict?
While Indiana’s proposal is currently dead, other states have succeeded in Trump’s redistricting goals. In August, Texas lawmakers approved a new map that hands Republicans five GOP-leaning districts. Both Missouri and North Carolina redrew maps that created one additional district each that favors Republicans. Ohio lawmakers also redrew their map, giving Republicans two more districts.
In a surprise move, a Utah state judge ordered lawmakers to create a map that creates a Democratic-leaning district in the Salt Lake City area. Utah is one of several states with one-party representation in Congress.
Voters in California passed Proposition 50, which approved a map drawn that could allow Democrats to flip five seats. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to stop the redistricting.
Are other states looking to redraw maps?
Several other states, blue and red, are also trying to redraw maps.
For Republicans, Florida lawmakers have taken the first step to start redistricting. Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said they could gain five seats under the new map. However, House Speaker Daniel Perez said that there was “no plan on redistricting right now” when asked on Tuesday, according to Politico. Democratic lawmakers have also proposed a bill to ban partisan mapmaking.
Republicans in Kansas, another Republican-led state looking to redraw, have said they don’t have enough votes to call a special election for the issue. However, Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins said he would take up the issue during the regular session, which begins in January.
Republican efforts in Nebraska have also stalled, with some state lawmakers saying the vote isn’t necessary.
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said his state’s decision on redistricting would hinge on Indiana. Much like California reacted to Texas’ redrawing, Illinois would react to Indiana’s, Pritzker said.
“We’re watching what Indiana does,” Pritzker said. “We may have to react to that. It’s certainly something that people have considered here, and the legislature has considered here. But we’ll have to see what happens.”
Illinois’ Black Caucus members have opposed any redistricting that dilutes majority Black and Hispanic districts.
But other Democratic-led states may go ahead of Illinois. Both Maryland and Virginia have announced efforts.
In Maryland, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore said on Thursday that the state would try to add one Democratic-leaning seat to its map. Doing so would remove the state’s only Republican member of Congress.
“If parts of this country are going to go through a mid-decade process to determine whether or not they have fair maps, then so will the state of Maryland,” Moore said.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia scored a win in early November after a judge denied an effort to block a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map. Lawmakers will vote on the map proposal during the regular session beginning in January. Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and the bill would likely have enough support to pass.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
