Republicans within the Indiana state Home on Monday launched a brand new congressional district map that seeks to oust the 2 Democrats within the state’s nine-member delegation, heeding President Donald Trump’s demand that state Republicans assist him rig the 2026 midterm elections.
The map carves as much as flip what’s at present a 7-2 map in favor of Republicans to a 9-0 map in favor of the GOP. This might be in a state the place Democrat Kamala Harris gained roughly 40% of the vote in final yr’s presidential election.
Whereas the map is more likely to cross the GOP-controlled state Home, it is unclear whether or not it has the votes to cross the Republican-controlled state Senate, the place GOP lawmakers have slammed Trump’s effort and subsequent strain marketing campaign that is led a number of lawmakers to obtain dying threats and assaults.
For instance, Republican state Sen. Michael Bohacek on Friday mentioned he’ll vote towards any gerrymandering effort, pinning his opposition to a remark Trump made wherein he known as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “seriously retarded.”
President Donald Trump, proven in November.
“This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences,” Bohacek, whose daughter has Down syndrome, wrote in a Facebook post. “I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he [Trump] can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority.”
In the meantime, Republican state Sen. Jean Leising mentioned on Sunday she was the goal of a bomb menace attributable to her opposition to the gerrymander, however she mentioned it is not going to change her stance on the trouble.
“Unfortunately, my house was the target of a pipe bomb threat on Saturday evening,” she wrote in a put up on X. “This is a result of the D.C. political pundits for redistricting. Thanks to the Oldenburg Town Marshall, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the ISP, all is okay!”
One other GOP state senator refused a summons to the White Home, saying he believed that being pressured to vote for the gerrymander was a violation of federal regulation.
“There is no way that he should have time to have a conversation with me about Indiana mapmaking when that’s not his business, for starters,” GOP state Sen. Greg Walker said. “But secondly, doesn’t he have anything better to do? I can make a big list of things that are more important for him to focus on.”
Nevertheless, Senate President Professional Tem Rodric Bray, who can also be against the gerrymander, mentioned the Senate will meet to think about the state Home’s map.
But, on condition that a number of Senate Republicans have publicly come out towards it, it is not clear if the map will cross.
In the end, Trump is so petrified of Republicans shedding their Home majority that he’s strong-arming state lawmakers into rigging their congressional maps. It’s simply the newest in a protracted listing of corrupt actions he has taken since reentering the White Home.
