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.
Braun is calling for the General Assembly to convene Nov. 3.
President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw new maps in an attempt to give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms.
While Republicans in Texas and Missouri have moved quickly to enact a new set of districts and California Democrats are seeking to counter with their own redistricting plan, Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant to the idea and held weeks of discussion on the topic.
It’s unclear whether enough of the GOP majority Senate will back new maps.
The White House held multiple meetings with Indiana lawmakers who were holding out for months. The legislative leaders kept their cards close as speculation swirled over whether the state known for its more measured approach to Republican politics would answer the redistricting call.
Indiana Democratic Party chair Karen Tallian criticized the special session, saying Braun had been "brow-beaten" by Trump.
"Instead of action on utility bills, healthcare costs, and stagnant wages, Hoosiers are getting a special session for a partisan power grab," Tallian said.
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 also spoke to state lawmakers who were visiting Washington that day.
Vance returned to Indianapolis on Oct. 10 to meet with the governor, as well as the Republican state House and Senate members.
But a spokesperson for Bray said on Wednesday that the Indiana Senate lacked the votes to pass a new congressional map, casting doubt on the success of the special session.
Braun is a staunch ally of Trump in a state the president won by 19 percentage points in 2024. But Indiana lawmakers have avoided the national spotlight in recent years — especially after a 2022 special session that yielded a strict abortion ban. Braun had previously said he did not want to call a special session until he was sure lawmakers would be behind a new map.
While some have voiced support, other state Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to midcycle redistricting since August, saying it is costly and could backfire politically.
Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders praised existing boundaries after adopting them four years ago.
“I believe these maps reflect feedback from the public and will serve Hoosiers well for the next decade,” Bray said at the time.
Typically, states redraw boundaries of congressional districts every 10 years after the census has concluded. Any new maps made by Indiana lawmakers now will likely be challenged in court by opponents.
State lawmakers have the sole power to draw maps in Indiana. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers, meaning Democrats could not stop a special session by refusing to attend, like their peers in Texas briefly did.
Republicans outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7-2, limiting possibilities of squeezing out another seat. But many in the party see it as a chance for the GOP to represent all nine seats.
The GOP would likely target Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a longtime Democratic stronghold that encompasses Gary and other cities near Chicago in the state’s northwest corner. The seat held by third-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan has been seen by Republicans as a possible pickup in recent elections.
Lawmakers in Indiana redrew the borders of the district to be slightly more favorable toward Republicans in the 2022 election, but did not entirely split it up. The new maps were not challenged in court after they were approved in 2021, not even by Democrats and allies who had opposed the changes boosting GOP standing in the suburbs north of Indianapolis.
Mrvan still won reelection in 2022 and easily retained his seat in 2024.
Republicans could also zero in on Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, composed entirely of Marion County and the Democratic stronghold of Indianapolis. But that option would be more controversial, potentially slicing up the state’s largest city and diluting Black voters’ influence.
