The Indiana Senate will not vote this year on whether to redraw the state’s congressional map, ending hopes for a new GOP-favored map.
Indiana has been one of several states swept into the nationwide mid-decade redistricting effort, but despite prodding from the White House, the Hoosier state will not change its map. The state’s Senate was expected to meet on Dec. 1.
“Over the last several months, Senate Republicans have given very serious and thoughtful consideration to the concept of redrawing our state’s congressional maps,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said in a statement, after conducting a private test vote on Friday afternoon with his caucus.
“Today, I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” he added.
Gov. Mike Braun (R-IN) previously called on the chamber to hold a special session. He expressed his displeasure with his state’s Senate on their decision and said they should hold a session anyway.
“Our state senators need to do the right thing and show up to vote for fair maps,” Braun said in a statement. “Hoosiers deserve to know where their elected officials stand on important issues.”
Indiana has nine House seats, two of which are held by Democratic Reps. Frank Mrvan and Andre Carson. While Indiana House Republicans reportedly had the votes to redraw the map in a way that would likely flip the two opposition seats red, the Indiana Senate did not.
Republican state Sen. Kyle Walker was one of the Republican members in opposition, saying most of his constituents were opposed to mid-decade redistricting. “I’ve spent the past several months listening closely to my constituents on mid-decade redistricting,” Walker said. “With 93% opposed, and as their voice in the Indiana Senate, I’ll be voting no.”
At least eight Indiana Senate Republicans were opposed out of the 40-member caucus. Republicans needed 25 votes to approve the map.
The redistricting failure in Indiana this year comes after Vice President JD Vance visited the state twice to pressure Republican lawmakers to follow the Trump administration’s agenda. Republican lawmakers in states like Texas had successfully passed new Republican-favored maps.
Indiana is the fourth state, per Politico, where redistricting efforts have stalled despite pressure from the administration. The others are Kansas, Nebraska, and New Hampshire.
VANCE TO MEET WITH INDIANA REPUBLICANS FOR SECOND TIME IN REDISTRICTING EFFORT
Indiana Democrats celebrated the prospect of keeping the current congressional maps.
“This should have never been considered,” Indiana Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder said in a statement. “Now that this reckless idea has collapsed, our focus can return to where it should have been all along: Hoosiers.”