Gov. Mike Braun hasn’t yet decided if he’ll call a special session to redraw Indiana’s congressional map early — but said he and GOP legislative leaders are “considering it seriously” as they wait to see redistricting results out of Texas.
“It’ll be interesting to see what Texas does because they don’t have a supermajority, so … if that gets tripped up, it’s gonna probably impact what happens elsewhere, because the rest of it doesn’t add up to much,” he told the Capital Chronicle on Tuesday.
“I think mostly what happens here is going to depend on where Texas goes, because I think they’ve got five seats in play,” he said.
Indiana lawmakers redraw districts after each decennial census. They last did so in 2021. Congressional Republicans currently hold seven seats to Democrats’ two.
But President Donald Trump is pushing Texas and other GOP-led states to redistrict early to secure Republican majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives for the remainder of his second term. The midterm election is November 3, 2026.
Indiana is among the other states Trump’s administration has eyed, along with Florida, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina and Nebraska, according to CNN.
Braun said he didn’t feel financial pressure from Trump’s administration to call a special session. The next regular legislative session is set to begin in January.
“I don’t think so. I think federal funding has maybe some discretion, and we’ve got an excellent relationship with the administration,” Braun said. “You see that when it comes to education, healthcare, energy, they’ve been in Indiana more than any other state, so I take that as the main dynamic at play.”
He harkened back to his days as a U.S. senator, adding, “I know how that game is played, and I think the relationship, regardless, will be good with the administration.”
Legislators will need to weigh in
Braun’s comments came days after Vice President JD Vance visited him and other Hoosier Republican leaders to discuss redistricting amid a large protest against new boundaries.
“We talked about several things, but that would have probably been the main topic,” Braun said. “And I think (Vance) left feeling like we were going to consider it seriously.”
He’s not just waiting on Texas, however.
It’s also about the Statehouse’s dual Republican supermajorities, and the two men who’d marshal those members through redistricting legislation.
House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray released statements after the meeting with Vance that didn’t clarify their stances on redistricting. Braun said he hasn’t spoken with the two leaders since that meeting, and that they’re gauging their caucuses’ interest in redrawing district lines.
“Obviously that’s going to be something the Legislature has to see if they’ve got the appetite for,” Braun said. “Because as governor, you can call a session, and you can gavel in and out easily. (But) if it doesn’t have broad support, a governor’s veto doesn’t mean much either.”
“It’ll be up to our legislators to see what they want to do,” he continued, adding that his “eyes and ears (are) wide open” to them.
Overtly partisan redistricting in Indiana would likely target 1st District U.S. Rep Frank Mrvan to the northwest. But it could also include 7th District U.S. Rep. André Carson, whose district includes much of heavily Democratic Indianapolis.
The national effort has found a prominent backer in Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who wrote on X after Vance’s visit that he “fully support(s)” the redistricting effort.
Voting rights advocates have already vowed to challenge any Indiana redistricting efforts.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.