Within days of the Senate voting against mid-census redistricting, two Senators — who voted in favor of House Bill 1032 — announced major changes in their roles, which isn’t uncommon after a majority party fails to pass a piece of legislation.
State Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, announced Monday that he will resign from the Senate after being appointed as chair of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Zay served the Senate for 10 years, and his last day will be Jan. 8, 2026.
“I am proud of the work I accomplished during my time in the Senate and am grateful for the dedicated staff, state agencies and community leaders who helped make this progress possible. While my role as a public servant is changing, my commitment to serving Hoosiers remains the same,” Zay said.
Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, congratulated Zay on his appointment in a statement Monday.
“Our caucus certainly wishes him all the best as he takes on this new public service role,” Bray said.
Zay, who voted in favor of mid-census redistricting, issued a statement after the Senate’s 31-19 defeat of the measure Thursday stating he believed in “strengthening” the state’s congressional districts.
“Where we fell short as a state was in failing to fully help Hoosiers understand why redistricting matters and to bring Hoosiers along with us on this conversation,” Zay said.
Last month, Zay’s business in Huntington received a bomb threat, according to a spokesperson. In addition to Zay, Senators Dan Dernulc, Spencer Deery, Rick Niemeyer, Kyle Walker, Greg Walker, Linda Rogers, Greg Goode, Ron Alting, and Mike Bohacek received swatting calls or threats in the weeks leading up to the vote.
State Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, announced Friday that she submitted her resignation as Assistant Majority Floor Leader effective immediately.
In her statement, Brown and she and the 18 other Senators who voted in favor of mid-census redistricting are “devastated” because the Senate “failed our conservative voters, our colleagues in the Indiana House, our Indiana Congressional Delegation and the President.”
“Our Caucus will have rebuilding to do to repair communication and trust with voters, and I will focus on that effort outside of Senate Leadership,” Brown said.
Twenty-one Republicans, including Bray, joined all 10 Democratic Senators in voting against mid-decade redistricting.
When Brown addressed the Senate ahead of the vote Thursday, a person in the gallery chanted “shame on you” a few times before Lieutenant Gov. Micah Beckwith, who presides over the Senate, asked security to remove the person and threatened to clear out the public gallery.
More Top Picks Best Motorcycle Helmets
In her floor speech, Brown argued for mid-census redistricting, claiming it would prevent “socialist” Democrats taking over politics in Washington in 2026.
House Bill 1032, which allowed for mid-census redistricting and created a new Congressional map that gave Republicans an advantage in all nine districts, was filed after months of discussion between Indiana Republican leadership and the Trump administration. The proposed map, which was released on Dec.1, would have split 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, D-Indianapolis, into four sections.
Since August, President Donald Trump has been pressuring Republican-led states, starting in Texas, to undertake redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to maintain the GOP’s thin House majority. Redistricting typically occurs after the release of the U.S. Census every 10 years.
In August, Vice President JD Vance came to Indianapolis to talk to Republican leadership about redistricting in Indiana. Gov. Mike Braun ultimately called for a special session to begin in November, even after Bray said the Senate did not have the votes to pass new maps in October.
When the Senate announced it canceled the previously agreed to December session to address redistricting because of a lack of votes, he was forced to meet after the House announced it would convene, said Indiana University Indianapolis political science professor Aaron Dusso.
A common practice in state and federal politics is to not bring forth legislation that the majority knows won’t pass, Dusso said. In Indiana, the majority rolled, which means the majority of the majority party did not vote in favor of the bill, Dusso said.
After a rolled vote, it’s common to see legislators step down from positions of leadership or leave the government body altogether, Dusso said.
“There’s a failure somewhere,” Dusso said of the state’s Republican supermajority leadership.
“It doesn’t appear to be Bray’s because he’s seemingly counted the votes correctly, saw the writing on the wall and said that this wasn’t going to happen and wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having the majority party lose on an important (vote),” Dusso said.