Now Indiana Is Jumping on the Redistricting Bandwagon

Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun called Monday for state lawmakers to return to Indianapolis for a special session to redraw the state's congressional boundaries, escalating a national fight over midcycle redistricting. President Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw new maps that give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms. While Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have moved quickly to enact new districts and California Democrats are seeking to counter with their own redistricting plan, the AP reports that Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant.

The White House has held multiple meetings with Indiana lawmakers who have held out for months. Vice President JD Vance first met with Braun and legislative leaders in Indianapolis in August, and Trump met privately with state House Speaker Todd Huston and state Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray in the Oval Office weeks later. Vance returned to Indianapolis on Oct. 10 to meet with the governor, as well as Republican state House and Senate members.

A spokesperson for Bray said last week that the Indiana Senate lacked the votes to pass a new map, but it appears thing have changed. Braun previously said he did not want to call a special session until he was sure enough lawmakers were on board. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers, meaning Democrats could not stop a special session by refusing to attend, as their peers in Texas briefly did. Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder decried the special session and threatened legal action, saying, "This is not democracy. This is desperation."

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Republicans already outnumber Democrats in Indiana's congressional delegation 7-2, but many in the party see it as a chance for the GOP to represent all nine seats. Meanwhile, some Democratic states have moved to counter Republican gains with new maps. The latest, Virginia, is expected to take up the issue in a special session starting this week.