Some Indiana Republicans are resisting White House calls to redraw congressional maps

The Indiana State Senate convened Monday to discuss the possibility of redrawing the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 elections. The new proposed map would likely give Republicans two additional seats, and President Trump is very interested in the outcome. News Hour’s White House correspondent Liz Landers has been monitoring all of this and joined Amna Nawaz for the discussion.

Amna Nawaz:

The Indiana Senate convened today to discuss the possibility of redrawing the state’s congressional maps before the 2026 elections. The new proposed map would likely give Republicans two additional seats, and President Trump is very interested 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 bit unusual here, isn’t it? Because Indiana Senate leaders initially said they wouldn’t consider redistricting, and they didn’t have support. Then they reversed course. So what happened?

Liz Landers:

Well, mid-session redistricting has now been moving through the Indiana Statehouse for about the last week or so. Today, the matter came to the Senate Elections Committee, where they have been discussing this matter for several hours. We’ve heard from the public, people speaking in opposition to this, but also people speaking in support of redistricting in Indiana.

Last week, this law passed the Indiana House of Representatives, passing overwhelmingly. The new congressional map will redraw Indiana’s current map. Currently, Indiana’s delegation consists of seven Republicans, and two Democrats who represent them in Congress. This redrawing of the map would redraw it so that nine would be potentially Republican districts rather than Democratic districts.

The way this could happen is to split Indianapolis, the capital, into four of these different districts, diluting some of their voting power there. I spoke with former Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard by phone last week. He told me that he was against that.

He also thought it was a bad idea because it would weaken the community there and weaken the voting power of the people in Indianapolis. So, this week, all eyes are now on the Senate. Senate President Pro Tempore, Roderick Bray, opposes redistricting efforts in Indiana.

He says he thinks there may be unintended consequences for Republicans trying to consolidate their power there. And even the other Republican who supports that, Senator Ron Alting, he supports that. He also doesn’t think this will pass the Senate this week.

State Senator Ron Alting (R-Indiana):

Yes, the sounds are not there. There – everyone was talking about transparency and this and that. Nothing has changed. It’s the same as it was when we came two months ago and started discussing this.

The votes haven’t changed. Hoosiers have great values. The threats and all that my colleagues on the other side were subjected to did nothing but make them insist even stronger. It had the opposite effect on him.

Liz Landers:

We expect the Indiana State Senate to continue discussing this over the next few days, and then they will have a final vote likely on Thursday.

Amna Nawaz:

We know President Trump really wants to see that happen. He’s been very vocal about this on social media as well, posting on TRUTH Social no less than six times about this in the past three weeks, including Friday, when he posted this.

Quotes:

“If they stupidly say no, vote them out of office. They don’t deserve it and I will be there to help. Thank you, Indiana.”

Why is the president so interested in Indiana?

Liz Landers:

Well, one of the people I talked to who is close to the White House said the president is very interested in this and invested in it. Another person said he was obsessed with this. He’s been making calls around the clock to allies across the country about this.

Part of this is due to concerns in the White House and within the larger Republican Party in Washington that Republicans could lose the House of Representatives next year in the 2026 midterm elections and how that could impact the president’s agenda.

That’s also why I saw Vice President J.D. Vance travel to Indiana over the summer to talk about this. We understand from reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson has been speaking with lawmakers on the phone in Indiana about this as well, so it’s kind of this all-hands-on-deck effort on the part of Republicans here in D.C.

Amna Nawaz:

All this attention has also raised the political temperature. It seems like it goes beyond politics now, doesn’t it? There have been some reports of death threats against some Indiana state senators. Tell us more.

Liz Landers:

We’ve counted more than 10 Republicans in the Indiana State House who have gone public or spoken to the local press about some of these death threats they’re receiving.

And the governor there, Mike Brown, has been receiving some of these threats as well. Some of these incidents include incidents of crushing people’s homes, as well as their businesses. Some of these threats are also bomb threats.

But safe, in particular, is one of the people who received one of these death threats, Sen. Mike Bohacek, who is also a Republican. He opposes these redistricting efforts. He says this is a direct response to President Trump’s language. He has a daughter with Down syndrome. He says he was offended by the president’s use of derogatory terms against other politicians.

“This is not the first time our president has used these derogatory and insulting references and his choice of words will have consequences,” he wrote on social media – quote –

Amna Nawaz:

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, will report tonight.

Liz, thank you.

Liz Landers:

Thanks for having me.