President Donald Trump’s failed push for an Indiana congressional redistricting exposed divisions among Republicans who dominate the state Legislature and with Gov. Mike Braun.
The question of just how much the monthslong debate bruised those relationships will be a question when lawmakers return to the Statehouse in three weeks for resumption of their legislative session.
Several legislators interviewed following Thursday’s Senate vote rejecting the House-approved redistricting plan said they anticipated cooperation come January. Some put most of the blame for any animosity on national groups that tried to pressure legislators into supporting the new maps.
“I don’t think anybody wants to have a lasting impact,” said Sen. Sue Glick of LaGrange, who voted against redistricting. “There will be some hard feelings. But I thought that we kept it under control. There didn’t seem to be the acrimony on the floor that you might have anticipated. Most of that was coming from outside.”
Republican ties frayed by debate
But some were clearly offended by Braun’s threats to support election challengers against Republican senators who didn’t support the redrawn maps — including the chamber’s GOP leader, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray.
Sen. Jean Leising of Oldenburg, who has been a senator for 25 years and voted against redistricting, said she believed Braun owed Bray an apology.
“I don’t know if he will,” Leising said. “If he were asking me, ‘What should I do next?’ I’d say, ‘You need to apologize to Senator Bray, our pro tem.’ Because he actually said that he wanted to work against him.”
The governor’s office did not reply to a request for comment about Leising’s remarks.
In a statement following the Senate vote, Braun said he “will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”
Bray acknowledged the redistricting debate as a “hard one” but downplayed the possibility of an ongoing split between the Senate, the House and the governor.
“There’s been a difference here, but we’ve got lots of important things to do over this next legislative session and over the next few years,” Bray told reporters after Thursday’s vote. “I have zero doubt that we’ll get that done together.”
Republican House Speaker Todd Huston said he was “disappointed” with the Senate vote while expressing optimism for the legislative session that’s set to resume Jan. 5.
“I’m confident we will have a productive session that will address the issues that most impact Hoosiers,” Huston said in a statement.
Will grudges remain?
Bray repeatedly said mid-decade redistricting had insufficient Senate support for it to pass, even with a pressure campaign that included two trips by Vice President JD Vance to Indianapolis and phone calls by Trump to individual senators.
Some senators, however, denounced what they regarded as bullying to win support for the proposed maps crafted to produce a 9-0 Republican delegation. It aimed to do so by carving up the two districts currently held by Democratic Reps. André Carson in Indianapolis and Frank Mrvan in the area along Lake Michigan near Chicago.
Several senators opposing the redistricting plan cited their support for Trump and hopes to see Republicans retain their U.S. House majority after the 2026 midterm elections.
But some redistricting advocates framed the debate in stark terms, such as when Senate Majority Floor Leader Chris Garten called on senators to be “active agents of American greatness” by supporting the 9-0 map plan.
Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2008, said he was frustrated with the time he believed was “wasted” on the redistricting debate but that Braun was “duty bound” to patch up his relationship with lawmakers.
“I get along with him, I see him more than any governor I’ve ever seen,” DeLaney said. “I think he’s got the right personality to say, ‘Let’s just do the job, move forward under the facts as they are.’ I think he does. Now, whether he gets pushed from Washington to be a cheerleader in a raid on Indiana.”
Republican Sen. Eric Bassler of Washington said he believed Bray and Huston were “rationalists about running things” and would not hold grudges over the redistricting dispute.
“There’s going to be some wounds between the governor and our chamber,” Bassler said. “But my hope is that the governor and his staff and team will be adult about this and work well with us, just like I hope that the Senate will be adults about it and work well with the governor.”
Senate leadership shakeup?
The split among Republican senators — 21 voting joining 10 Democrats against redistricting and 19 in favor — prompted speculation over whether Bray was secure in the president pro tem position he’s held 2018.
That possibility was dismissed by senators following Thursday’s 31-19 outcome.
“Absolutely not,” Leising said. “No, and his vote was even a little stronger than I predicted. I was, in my mind, saying 27 to 30 (against redistricting), and it was 31 so that made me really happy for him.”
Glick said she doesn’t expect any threats to Bray’s leadership, noting that “I can’t reveal what we discussed in caucus, but I can tell you that while all of this, the yeas and the nays have both complimented him on its fairness, on his willingness to address their issues.”
One fallout from the debate was the decision by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, to step down from her position as Senate assistant majority floor leader in charge of communications while remaining a senator.
Brown said in a statement that she and other redistricting supporters “recognize the consequences of what it will mean to have socialists control Congress” and that the Senate had “failed our conservative voters.”
“Our caucus will have rebuilding to do to repair communication and trust with voters, and I will focus on that effort outside of Senate leadership,” Brown said.
Republican Sen. Linda Rogers of Granger was among the 10 senators who had kept quiet about their redistricting stance until Thursday’s vote, when she pushed the red “no” button on her desk.
When asked whether there would be lingering hard feelings over the maps decision, Rogers said: “I hope not, I don’t think so.”
“Some of my very closest friends here and I voted differently,” she said, “and we are still very close friends.”
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.
