The Indiana Senate voted 31-19 to defeat a mid-census redistricting map Thursday, ending a monthslong effort by the Trump administration to shift Indiana’s congressional districts.
House Bill 1032, which addresses mid-census redistricting and gives Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, was introduced and passed by the House last week. This week, the Senate heard from more than 100 people in committee and advanced the bill through Thursday without amending it.
The proposed map, which was released last week, would have split the 1st District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, into two, and the 7th District, currently held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Indianapolis, into four districts.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun criticized the result on X/Twitter shortly after the vote.
“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun’s statement read. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.
The debate was interrupted by protesters twice during Fort Wayne Sen. Liz Brown’s statement, and they were escorted out by a ruling from the chair, who threatened to clear out the public gallery.
The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, used part of his closing statement to criticize the way Illinois draws its congressional districts.
“They want you to play by a different set of rules than what you play by,” Gaskill said forcefully.
Both last month and earlier this week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he and Democratic leaders who control the Illinois House and Senate were keeping an eye on what GOP leaders in Indiana were doing before deciding how to counter gerrymandering pushed by President Donald Trump in GOP-led states.
“An awful lot of people want us to consider redistricting and I have to say we’re watching what Indiana does,” Pritzker said last month after U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, leader of the Democratic minority in the House, unsuccessfully urged Illinois Democrats to act on redistricting during the fall legislative session.
State senators work during arguments about redrawing the state’s congressional map at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Dec. 11, 2025. (Jon Cherry/The New York Times)
Illinois Democrats hold 14 Democratic seats out of 17 districts under the post-2020 federal census map but many were worried they could endanger that success by trying to carve out a 15th district. A new redistricting plan for the 2026 midterm elections also would have faced several legal hurdles, particularly since candidates in the March 17 primary have already filed petitions to appear on the ballot.
HB 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.
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 and threats.
The threats moved Bray to call the Senate into session on Dec. 8, following the Dec. 1 start of the House session.
HB 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.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/indiana-redistricting-bill-fails-senate-vote/
