Indiana Senate and House Democratic members held a press conference Tuesday morning at the Indianapolis International Airport to denounce Indiana Republican legislators’ trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump about redistricting.
“They went for one reason: To help a greedy Donald Trump. To help Donald Trump and his allies rig Indiana’s Congressional map because seven out of the nine seats aren’t enough,” said Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington. “This is a blatant attempt to cheat Indiana voters.”
Indiana Republicans were scheduled to meet with Trump and White House officials on Tuesday afternoon.
President Donald Trump and national Republicans have been pressuring red states to change their congressional maps before the 2026 election to increase Republican control of the U.S. House.
Last week, Texas lawmakers approved redistricted maps to include five new districts that would favor Republicans. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday promised to quickly sign off on the new maps.
In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved a special election to take place in November for residents to vote on a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more House seats next year.
Meanwhile, Trump has pushed other Republican-controlled states, including Indiana and Missouri, to also revise their maps to add more winnable Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.
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It is unusual for redistricting to take place in the middle of the decade and typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the census.
Vice President JD Vance came to Indianapolis Aug. 7 to talk to Gov. Mike Braun and other Republican state leaders about redistricting. The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs sent an email invitation on July 28 — before Vance came to Indiana but after the Texas special session was slated — inviting the state’s entire Republican legislative caucus to the White House.
The email, which the Indiana Capital Chronicle obtained, said the meeting would be “an opportunity for Indiana’s elected officials to hear directly from senior White House officials and cabinet secretaries to learn how to partner with the administration to implement President Trump’s agenda at the state and local level.”
The majority of Northwest Indiana’s Republican legislators told the Post-Tribune they won’t attend the meeting. State. Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, and Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, did not respond to multiple requests for comment, individually and through their spokespeople.
Braun told reporters last week that he remained noncommittal on whether to call a special session for redistricting, adding that the decision will depend on consensus within the legislature.
“I’m not going to call one unless there is going to be general agreement that we need to,” Braun told reporters, noting a session could cost taxpayers roughly $150,000. A 2022 special session, during which the legislature passed a near-total abortion ban, cost about $240,000.
Braun acknowledged the national political pressure but emphasized that Indiana is already solidly Republican.
“Yes, there will be political pressure put on, and it will be cranked up, probably closer you get to the finish line of when they’d like to get it done,” Braun said.
Indiana was last redistricted in 2021, which left Congressional Republicans with seven seats and Democrats two seats. The two Democratic seats are the first district, held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, and the seventh district, held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Indianapolis.
Mrvan wrote Tuesday morning on his campaign Twitter/X account that while Indiana GOP leaders were in Washington, DC, “I’ll be in Northwest Indiana working on behalf of the people of Indiana’s First Congressional District.”
Yoder said the Indiana Republican supermajority has been following the Trump administration “playbook” around public education, healthcare and tax increases for the poor and tax breaks for the rich.
Now, she said, the state supermajority will look to give Trump two more Republican congressional seats.
“A rigged nine to zero, not because voters asked for it but because they are scared of what happens when voters catch on,” Yoder said, “This isn’t redistricting, this is rigging, this is cheating, this is throwing our most important American value into the garbage. They are running scared — or flying scared — (because) they know Hoosiers are catching on.”
State Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis, said to further redistrict Indiana in favor of Republicans would require carving up communities of color, which would further dilute their voices.
“There’s nothing conservative about tearing up 250 years of constitutional practice. There’s nothing patriotic about silencing Black and brown voters,” Gore said.
Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, called on Republican legislators to forgo their daily pay if a special session on redistricting is called.
“Your taxpayer dollars are going to be needed to defend this GOP manipulation of our civil rights,” Hunley said. “It’s time to put your money where your mouth is, not just the taxpayers’ dime.”
House Democratic Floor Leader Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, said redistricting mid-census is “un-American,” and an attempt for Republicans to maintain control amid failed policies.
“This is voter suppression on steroids,” Pryor said. “Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis are not just two Democratic congressional seats, they are two areas with the largest number of minority voters.”
State Rep. Gregory Porter, D-Indianapolis, said he was embarrassed that state Republicans were headed to Washington “to defend something that’s been toxic for our community.” When redistricting occurred after the 2020 census, state Republicans supported the maps, he said.
“They are bowing down to (Trump) at the expense of the people,” Porter said.
State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond, said she doesn’t believe Indiana needs to be redistricted.
“I think it’s flat out wrong. It’s a move to cheat. It’s a move to steal and it’s shameful,” Jackson said. “It shows they have no morals at all.”
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said anyone who values the Constitution and democracy should be opposed to the Republican effort to redistrict mid-census.
“The whole process troubles me,” Smith said. “(Trump) knows he’s in trouble … so they came up with a scheme to counter what they know is going to happen in the next general election.”
Within a Republican supermajority, Jackson, D-Hammond, said Indiana Democrats don’t have the power to vote down any proposed redistricting maps. But she said Democrats can show up to oppose the measure.
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“We can speak up. We can let our voices be heard, that they would be disenfranchising so many voters,” Jackson said.
Smith said he would speak out against redistricting if a special session was called, but the Republican supermajority has control – and the votes – when it comes to redistricting.
“They are totally in charge and they can do what they want to do,” Smith said.