After Indiana defeated mid-census redistricting Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump downplayed the loss, while Gov. Mike Braun and Lieutenant Gov. Micah Beckwith shared their disappointment and alluded to potential repercussions for the state from the Trump administration.
House Bill 1032, which would have given Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, was introduced and passed in the House last week in a 57-41 vote.
On Thursday, the Senate defeated the measure with 31 senators voting against it and 19 in favor of the proposed map, which would have split the 1st District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, into two, and the 7th District, currently held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Indianapolis, into four districts.
Jennifer Hora, a professor of political science at Valparaiso University, said many political analysts thought the bill wouldn’t pass the Senate, but that it would be a close vote.
“The most surprising element was that it was 31 to 19 and that a majority of Republicans voted against this. That part, I did not expect,” Hora said. “There was not great enthusiasm for this issue, and they didn’t want to be on the losing side.”
All members of the Northwest Indiana Senate delegation, Republican and Democrat, voted against mid-census redistricting and the proposed map, which would have shifted the northern part of Porter County and Michigan City into the Second District..
State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, said he voted against the map because it didn’t follow the typical redistricting process. In 2021, when Indiana last completed redistricting, legislators held public hearings in each district, the maps were considered by the legislature, and courts found the maps to be legally sound, he said.
In the proposed map, the 1st District stretched too far into Central Indiana, Niemeyer said.
“I understand the rationale why they wanted it done — to protect Congress. The reason I didn’t vote yes was because … the map came out Dec. 1 and I didn’t like the new map,” Niemeyer said.
State Senators Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After the vote, Trump said he won Indiana three times “by a landslide,” so “there’s no reason” not to redistrict all nine of Indiana’s Congressional districts to have a Republican advantage.
“I wasn’t working on it very hard. Would’ve been nice, I think we would’ve picked up two seats if we did that,” Trump said. “I wasn’t very much at all.”
Over the last four months, the Trump administration has been pressuring Republican-led states, starting with Texas, to complete mid-census redistricting to ensure a Republican majority in the House after the 2026 midterm elections. Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis twice to meet with Republican leadership to talk about mid-census redistricting, and Trump met with Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, and House Speaker Todd Huston, R-FIshers, in the Oval Office.
In his remarks Thursday, Trump denied knowing who Bray was and expressed his hope that he faces a primary challenger when he’s up for reelection in 2028.
Bray said the Senate Republican caucus supports Trump, especially on issues like immigration and public safety, and the Senate Republican caucus will present bills that work with the Trump administration on those issues.
“It’s time to turn the page. Hoosiers need leadership from their state government that will continue to improve our education system and make life more affordable for Hoosiers,” Bray said.
Braun criticized the result on X/Twitter shortly after the vote.
“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun’s statement read. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”
The Senate had been a hurdle for mid-census redistricting, as Bray told multiple news outlets since October that the chamber did not have the votes to pass the measure. Since that announcement, and an initial cancellation of the Senate’s December session due to lack of votes, many Senators – including Niemeyer and Dernulc – received swatting calls.
Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, posted on X/Twitter hours before the Senate gaveled in Thursday that Trump “has made it clear to Indiana leaders” that if the Senate doesn’t pass the map the state won’t receive federal funding.
“Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame,” according to the organization.
Beckwith shared Heritage Action’s post on X/Twitter Thursday night and said that the Trump administration “was VERY clear” with state leaders that federal funding would be withheld from the state if the mid-census redistricting bill didn’t pass. He has since deleted the post.
By Friday, Beckwith posted a long list of Trump’s accomplishments and accused “Indiana politicians” for deciding to “grow timid.” The post included pictures of the 21 Senate Republicans who voted against redistricting.
“Yesterday, the Indiana Senate faced a simple choice: Stand and fight a Marxist movement … or choose dishonor. They choose dishonor,” Beckwith said.
Niemeyer said he heard that the Trump administration has made threats of withholding funds from Indiana because mid-census redistricting failed. But, Niemeyer said he can’t control the federal government’s reaction, all he could control was his vote.
“I’m concerned about what may happen. All we can do at this point is wait and see what happens,” Niemeyer said. “I hope they don’t use that as something that shows they didn’t like our vote.”
It would be difficult for the federal government to withhold funds from Indiana, Hora said. While the federal government could try to withhold grants, it’s likely interest groups would file lawsuits against that, she said.
“They’re definitely going to be watching if any of their funding changes or disappears,” Hora said.
It’s unusual, in Indiana, for a governor and lieutenant governor to draft social media posts with “inflammatory” language against members of their party, Hora said.
“There are many ways to concede gracefully, to say, ‘I disagree with their vote, but this is over,’” Hora said. “I have not seen the Republican Party so angry at other members of the Republican Party, and so prominently.”
Braun’s political pull with Senate Republicans has been exposed as weak as the majority of Republican Senators didn’t vote for mid-census redistricting, Hora said.
“This is a huge loss for the governor of the state to take such a strong position on this issue, and then to lose so publicly,” Hora said.
As the bill was discussed in the Senate, Republican supporters of the bill argued that mid-census redistricting is constitutional because while the Indiana Constitution states that redistricting can take place after the release of the decennial census, it doesn’t say that redistricting has to occur one time within that period, Hora said.
The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, said that Democrats “declared war” on Republicans by keeping congressional maps with Democratic advantage. Gaskill contended the nation’s sharp political divisions represented a “second Civil War” as he urged Republicans in the chamber to “stand up and fight” against Democrats, telling them they could either be “Churchills” or “Chamberlains.”
“The rhetoric that we hear from the national Democrat Party is absolutely insane. I know you guys don’t support that,” he told Republican members, “but they’re riling up people to commit heinous acts. We have to stop evil right now.”
With his fighting language, Gaskill was trying to scare Republicans into supporting the bill, Hora said.
“When your own party votes 21 to 19, that’s a pretty strong rebuke of you are not going to scare us,” Hora said.
State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, said he “really didn’t know what the votes were going to be until they were on the board.” Ultimately, Pol said the threats, from within the state and nationally, against Senators backfired.
If the Trump administration decides to withhold funding from Indiana, then Indiana’s nine Congressional leaders should work together to ensure funding is appropriated for the state, Pol said.
“The state legislature has done the will of the people. Now, the nine congressional leaders need to ensure funding comes through,” Pol said.
Hoosiers testifying, calling, emailing and sending letters to legislators against mid-census redistricting made the difference, Pol said.
“I think people were relieved to be heard,” Pol said. “This is a historic win for all Hoosiers.”