Indiana’s redistricting bill advanced out of the Senate Elections Committee Monday evening in a 6-3 vote, with one Republican voting against the bill.
House Bill 1032, which addresses mid-census redistricting and gives Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, passed with three Republicans on the committee saying they wanted to advance the bill for consideration by the full Senate. The proposed map, which was released last week, splits up the current First District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, into two and the Seventh District, currently held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, into four.
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, tearfully expressed his opposition to the bill because he said he wouldn’t be intimidated by the swatting call he received when Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said his chamber didn’t have the votes to pass it.
“I will not normalize that kind of behavior,” Walker said. “I fear for this institution. I fear for the state of Indiana, and I fear for all states, if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm.”
Committee Chair Senator Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, said he supports the bill because while “political gerrymandering is uncomfortable,” Indiana should act because Democratic states have been redistricting to their advantage.
“This is a very small part that we can play in rebalancing the scales on a national basis,” Gaskill said.
State Senators Stacey Donato, Linda Rogers and Greg Goode all said they voted in favor of the bill so that it can be discussed by the full Senate.
“I take the importance of listening very seriously and will continue to listen with an open mind,” Goode, R-Terre Haute, said in a statement after the vote. Goode and Rogers were two of at least nine Senators who received swatting calls and threats.
Donato, R-Logansport, and Rogers, R-Granger, said they may change their votes when the Senate takes up the measure.
Democratic Senators Fady Qaddoura and J.D. Ford presented four amendments to the bill, including creating a nonpartisan advisory board to conduct redistricting and for the proposed map to be discussed in public hearings in each district before legislative approval. Each of the amendments failed.
Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he has many concerns with House Bill 1032, including the cracking of minority communities, which dilutes their voices. The bill blurs the lines of separation of power between the legislature and the courts by not allowing county-level judges to issue injunctions that would block the map from going into effect, he said. The bill states that any challenges to the new maps will be heard by the state’s Supreme Court.
“It’s a direct indication that we’re going to shove it through,” Qaddoura said. “We already have gerrymandered maps in Indiana that give more than 70% to Republicans.”
Ford, D-Indianapolis, said Indiana was taking up mid-census redistricting because of one person: President Donald Trump. Mid-census redistricting has been an issue across the country ever since Trump asked leaders in Texas to redistrict its Congressional map to give Republicans five more seats in late summer, he said.
“We have the opportunity here today to not pass the buck anymore. We can put an end to this partisan gerrymandering. We can allow our folks to elect their elected officials and not the other way around,” Ford said.
Passing the maps out of committee sets “a very dangerous precedent,” Ford said.
“This is an invitation to endless political instability and a waste of precious state resources,” Ford said.
During the Senate Elections Committee Monday, 127 people signed up to testify on the bill for more than three hours. The majority of people testified in opposition to the bill, but 18 people testified in favor of the bill.
Advocates of the bill pointed to Democratic states like California and Illinois where they say political leaders have conducted partisan redistricting for years. Those against the bill stated Indiana shouldn’t take up the measure because it was requested by Trump and because the map dilutes the minority vote.
Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Tallian said in a statement after the vote that democracy only works when voters believe that elections matter.
“The Indiana General Assembly has rules: redistricting happens every 10 years. These rules are not obstacles. They are safety nets. Upholding the rules is not an act of weakness, it is an act of responsibility, maintaining the integrity of the process,” Tallian said.
House Bill 1032 passed the House Friday in a 57-41 vote, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats present in voting against the bill. For the Northwest Indiana House delegation, all Democrats voted against the bill and all Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
Ahead of the House vote, House Speaker Todd Huston said states across the country are conducting mid-census redistricting, Huston said, which means Indiana should address the issue as well.
“This is the place we are right now. This is our time to act,” Huston, R-Fishers, said. “This is a challenging issue, one none of us took lightly. Not one of us didn’t have long, thoughtful, meaningful conversations about it.”
The Senate has been a hurdle to Indiana’s mid-census redistricting efforts after Senate leadership stated in October that the chamber doesn’t have the votes to pass new maps.
Gov. Mike Braun called for a special session to address redistricting after months of overtures by Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance. The Trump administration has asked Republican-led states to undertake mid-census redistricting to maintain the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In response to Trump’s request, Texas conducted mid-census redistricting to give Republicans five more seats, to which California responded with voter-approved redistricting to create five more Democratic-leaning seats.
Ahead of Organization Day, Nov. 18, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said the Senate didn’t have the votes to pass new maps and canceled the Senate’s December session.
In response to Bray’s announcement, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, calling out Bray and Goode “for not wanting to redistrict their state, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats.”
Hours after Trump posted his comment, Goode received a false swatting call. After Organization Day, when the Senate voted to reconvene in January, at least nine more state senators — Dan Dernulc, Spencer Deery, Rick Niemeyer, Kyle Walker, Greg Walker, Linda Rogers, Andy Zay, Ron Alting, Mike Bohacek — received swatting calls.
The threats moved Bray to call the Senate into session on Dec. 8, following the Dec. 1 start of the House session.
House Bill 1032, authored by State Rep. Ben Smaltz, would allow the legislature to amend congressional districts “at a time other than the first regular session of the general assembly convening immediately following the United States decennial census.”
The bill states that the current Congressional Districts won’t expire before Nov. 3, 2026.
During a House committee hearing last week, Smaltz, R-Auburn, said Indiana is taking up mid-census redistricting because of that action across the country. The map was drawn by the National Republican Redistricting Trust using data from the last three presidential elections and the last two Indiana U.S. Senator, Secretary of State and attorney general elections, Smaltz said.
“These maps were drawn for political purposes and advantage,” Smaltz said.
