Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray announced Friday he won’t seek reelection to serve as Senate leader amid ongoing acrimony by Republicans who blame Bray for the failure of a mid-cycle redistricting effort last winter.
Bray, who served as president pro tem of the Senate for eight years, said in a statement that amid those promises “he has determined he will not put members in jeopardy from their own party simply because he is asking members to support his re-election as pro tem.”
In a Truth Social post Friday, President Donald Trump wrote he was pleased that Bray won’t be seeking reelection for his leadership role, though he would’ve liked to see Bray resign from office.
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Trump said Bray “foolishly” led the state senate amid the state’s redistricting effort, which has cost many state senators who were up for reelection to lose their primary races in May.
When the Senate didn’t pass mid-census redistricting legislation in December, Trump called out Bray, who had stated since October that the chamber didn’t have the votes to pass redistricting, for the measure not passing.
“Rodric Bray should be ashamed of himself for costing our Country, mainly the Republican Party, two U.S. House Seats, and for costing all of his colleagues who went along with him, an Election loss! Isn’t it amazing how Politics works?” Trump wrote. “I want to thank the Great State of Indiana for your support … in getting rid of wayward Senators, led down the Path of Destruction by a FOOL named Rodric Bray. Indiana, I will never forget your loyalty!”
Bray, R-Martinsville, said that serving in the leadership role “has been among the most significant honors” of his life.
Under his leadership, Bray said he was proud that the Senate Republican caucus focused on tax cuts, initiatives to lower healthcare costs, passing laws that increased literacy rates in schools and measures that resulted in record capital investment through 2024.
Bray pointed to the passage of conservative legislation during his tenure, including a ban on transgender athletes from playing in women’s sports and passing the nation’s first near-total abortion ban after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“That’s a track record I will always stand behind, and I’m incredibly proud to have accomplished this work as the Pro Tem alongside my distinguished colleagues,” Bray said. “(B)ut it’s time for the Senate to choose another leader.”
The job of the president pro tem is to lead the Senate by setting legislative priorities, appointing chairman, assigning all bills filed each session to committee and maintaining the integrity of the Senate. The pro tem also has to represent and look out for the Senate members, according to the statement.
Bray will continue to serve as president pro tem and manage the day-to-day operations of the Senate until a leadership election is held in November, according to the statement.
Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Tallian, a former state senator from Ogden Dunes, said in a statement that Bray’s announcement should send a clear message to Hoosier voters.
“He is stepping down because of the MAGA threats to primary any Senate R(epublicans) who voted for him. This is incredible. He also talks proudly about the State’s and Senate’s accomplishments through 2024. Interesting. Did he choose that date randomly? Or is it a reflection of what he thinks of the Braun administration disaster that began in 2025?,” Tallian said.
Last summer and fall, the Trump administration pressured Republican states, including Indiana, to undertake mid-census redistricting to help Republicans hold onto their majority in the U.S. House. Typically, redistricting occurs every 10 years after the release of the U.S. census data.
In October, a spokeswoman for Bray’s office told reporters that the Senate did not have the votes to pass new Congressional maps. When the legislature announced that the 2026 session would start in the first two weeks of December to address redistricting, the Senate initially announced it wouldn’t meet in December but ultimately did.
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During the two-week session, the House passed the redistricting legislation but it failed to pass in the Senate. In response, Trump vowed to endorse candidates in the May primary running against Republican senators who voted against redistricting.
On election night in May, five of seven Trump-backed candidates won against incumbents in their run for state senate. State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, who voted against redistricting, lost his bid for reelection to Trevor De Vries, who was endorsed by Trump.
Dernulc said he liked Bray’s leadership style because he never told the senators how to vote, instead encouraging them to vote how their constituents would want them to vote.
“Those are the types of leaders we need,” Dernulc said. “The people have spoken, and it seems they don’t want that type of leadership, just like they didn’t want my type of leadership.”
Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said in a statement that Bray was a strong leader of the Senate.
“Senate President Pro Tem Bray led the Indiana Senate with integrity and a steady hand. I respect his commitment not just to his constituents, but to all of Indiana as he served in leadership over the last eight years. Although he is stepping down as President Pro Tem, I wish him the very best as he continues to serve District 37,” Yoder said.