Even though Indiana state Senate leader Rodric Bray isn’t on anyone’s primary ballot next week, he is the ultimate target of President Donald Trump’s demand for political retribution.

Seven Republican senators who voted in December against redrawing Indiana’s U.S. House district maps are facing Trump-endorsed challengers backed by millions of dollars in spending by national pro-redistricting groups.

In an interview Wednesday with the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Bray brushed off questions about threats to his eight-year tenure as Senate president pro tem if multiple challengers win those primary races.

“It was a very, very challenging session in December, and those votes were hard, and the folks that voted against it, I know, are now under a massive attack from Washington, D.C, and elsewhere in the nation,” Bray said. “I just would hate to see those people lose because of the will of somebody outside the state of Indiana.”

Trump repeatedly lambasted Bray for not pushing through the proposed map aimed at boosting the chances of Republicans winning all nine of Indiana’s congressional seats.

The president vowed in a January social media post “to take out” Bray, saying “We’re after you Bray, like no one has ever come after you before!”

Bray opposition a “litmus test”

A pledge to oppose reelecting Bray as Senate president pro tem for next year’s legislative session was a “litmus test” for garnering the Trump endorsement, said Owen County Republican Chair Kristi Risk, who is among three candidates seeking the GOP nomination for an open Senate seat in southwestern Indiana.

Risk didn’t make that commitment and Trump’s backing went to former state Rep. Jeff Ellington — an early supporter of redistricting who announced in November that he would not support Bray.

Risk, a staffer to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, said she also told Bray she wouldn’t pledge to support him for the top Senate position.

“I actually feel like that litmus test is unethical because you’re already asking me to sell a vote,” Risk told the Capital Chronicle. “I haven’t even been elected. Good grief, the primary hasn’t even happened and they’re already trying to get me to sell a vote.”

Bray’s term as a senator representing the Martinsville area isn’t up for election until 2028. But the Republicans who dominate the Senate will decide before next year’s legislative session who among their ranks to nominate for the top leadership post of president pro tem.

Marty Obst, a longtime Indiana Republican operative and leader of the pro-redistricting group Fair Maps Indiana, said those senators who voted against the new district maps failed to support an important part of Trump’s agenda.

“None of these are going to be easy challenges, but I do think there’s a real shot for some of these candidates to prevail and, hopefully, come in and help reset what the Senate agenda is,” Obst said. “They can contribute to that.”

Gov. Mike Braun has joined Trump in endorsing the primary challengers and at least $300,000 from a group run by his political allies has gone toward supporting them.

Braun told the Capital Chronicle that he had not sought pledges to oust Bray.

“There’s been no commitments,” Braun said. “There’s been none of that. I think I view this as a tough navigation that we had to go through and, you know, they kind of chose to do what they did. I think it was very clear from the get go, at least from the administration, that there would be consequences, and however that plays out, I’m one that’s going to get along with whoever is in there.”

Bray counters with own dark money group 

The Trump-endorsed candidates have been backed by more than $5 million in spending by pro-redistricting groups, including a dark-money group aligned with Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Banks.

Bray has countered with at least $3.5 million from campaign funds he controls and formed in March his own nonprofit political group — the Indiana First Coalition Inc. — to help protect those incumbent senators who are perceived as among his supporters within the Republican caucus.

Groups such as Indiana First and the Banks-affiliated Hoosier Leadership for America are generally allowed to keep the sources of their money private.

Bray said the Indiana First group was a response to Hoosier Leadership spending more than $1 million just against targeted incumbent Sen. Spencer Deery of West Lafayette.

“I’m trying to level that playing field with the people we’re competing against,” Bray said.

When asked whether his new organization was meant to allow donors to keep their support secret for fear of political retribution, Bray said “I do think that, maybe, some people use that for that reason.”

A mailer opposing Blake Fiechter in his GOP primary against Sen. Travis Holdman was sent by Indiana First, saying “Vote against D.C. special interests. Vote against Blake Fiechter.”

GOP senators supporting their own

A half-dozen Republican senators who also voted against redistricting but don’t face election this year have directed about $300,000 from their own campaign funds toward helping their colleagues prevail.

Sen. Mike Crider of Greenfield, who holds the Senate’s fourth-ranking post as majority whip, has contributed more than $100,000 to the effort. Crider said he believed Bray handled the redistricting debate as fairly as possible and that it’s right to be loyal in supporting his fellow senators

“It kind of makes me want to throw up to think of what good I could have done for mental health and other things with the amount of money that’s just been spent on advertising and things both directions,” Crider said. “We’ve gotten the Washington influence here in the state now and we’re going to deal with it.”

Senate Majority Floor Leader Chris Garten of Charlestown, the chamber’s No. 2 post, split from the rest of the top Senate leadership and was an outspoken supporter of redistricting.

He has stayed out of the public eye on the Senate primary fights, giving just $30,000 of his campaign money to the Bray-led Senate Majority Campaign Committee. But while state records show he had almost $840,000 as of early April, he had given no money to candidates on either side of the Trump-involved races.

Garten did not return messages from the Capital Chronicle seeking comment for this story.

The No. 3 Senate leader, Majority Caucus Chair Holdman of Markle, is among the redistricting opponents facing a Trump-backed challenger in the primary.

Republican Sen. Mike Gaskill of Pendleton, who sponsored the redistricting bill, said he anticipates some changes in Senate leadership after this year’s elections but had not talked with other senators about it. Even so, Gaskill was only complimentary of Bray.

“You can look back in the vote history and see numerous times where Rod and I had different votes, but I’m not going to do anything to publicly disparage Rod,” Gaskill said.

Bray said the vast spending by pro-redistricting groups has created “a very steep hill to climb for our folks” but sidestepped a question about whether he was concerned about his leadership position.

“I have to run every two years for that caucus position of president pro tem,” Bray said. “It has been the honor of my life to have been chosen since 2018 to do that job. If they choose me again, I’d be honored to do it. If they don’t, then all wish the person who’s going to do it the best of luck. I do not spend much time thinking about that.”

Despite the political turmoil that has resulted, Bray said he did not regret his stance against Trump’s redistricting demands.

“There are people that think that it was the right thing for Indiana. That’s fine. I respect that,” Bray said. “What is a little frustrating, though, is that based on a difference of opinion on one issue just the opposition that has brought.”

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.