Indiana Republicans unveil congressional map proposal targeting Hoosier State's Democrats
It's unclear if enough state legislators will support the new map.
The Indiana legislature on Monday began the process of mid-decade redistricting with a map that could allow Republicans to flip up to two congressional seats in the 2026 midterms -- although it's unclear if enough state legislators will support the proposal for it to pass.
On Monday morning, Indiana House Republicans unveiled a draft of a new congressional map for the Hoosier State, which appears to target the state's two Democratic-held districts.
The state's 7th congressional district, which is currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Andre Carson and includes most of the city of Indianapolis, is splintered in the new map. It splits Indianapolis into four districts, which would likely dilute the Democratic vote.
And the 1st district, currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, is redrawn to become more Republican-leaning, according to analysts.
The Indiana state House on Monday afternoon referred the bill with the map to committee, over the protests of Democrats who said the new map would unfairly box out Democratic members of Indiana's congressional delegation.
"It tells Hoosiers that the commitment to civility and fair dealing we claim to value evaporates the moment raw political advantage becomes available ... This bill is nothing more than a power grab designed to lock in political control for a small and increasingly extreme faction of the electorate," Democratic state Rep. Blake Johnson said of the map during the House's session on Monday afternoon.
Republican state Rep. Ben Smaltz, the sponsor of the bill, said that debate on the map should wait until a committee begins taking it up.
"This isn't the point in time that we debate the substance of the bill. This is the point in time when a bill hits a bill list and gets assigned to a committee," he said.
A hearing on the bill will be held by the state House's Elections and Apportionment committee on Tuesday.
The state House's moves come amidst pressure from the White House for Indiana to redraw its congressional map, even as some Republican legislators in the state have said they are openly against it. Vice President JD Vance visited the state twice to meet with lawmakers in recent months.
Some state lawmakers, including GOP lawmakers who oppose redistricting, and the Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, have separately faced recent attempted swattings or bomb threats in recent weeks.
This group includes Indiana state Senator Jean Leising, a Republican who says she does not support mid-decade redistricting. On Sunday, Leising wrote that her home was targeted by a pipe bomb threat on Saturday.
"This is a result of the D.C. political pundits for redistricting," she wrote. "Thanks to the Oldenburg Town Marshall, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and the [Indiana State Police], all is okay!"
Law enforcement has not shared any motives for the attempted swattings or threats.
The action in Indiana comes amidst the continuing mid-decade redistricting scramble that kicked off this past summer when Texas unveiled a new congressional map meant to help Republicans bolster their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have already redrawn their congressional maps this past year to favor Republicans, while voters in California in November passed a proposition to adopt a Democratic-leaning map. A court in Utah recently ordered the state to use a map that includes a newly drawn Democratic-leaning district.
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