Braun warns of ‘political consequences’ for Republicans who voted against redistricting push

Minutes after the Indiana Senate on Thursday rejected a controversial bill that would have redrawn the state’s congressional maps, Gov. Mike Braun warned of “political consequences” for those who voted against the proposal.  

He also vowed to work with President Donald Trump—who for months has been pressuring Indiana lawmakers to support his push to create more winnable seats for the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms—to encourage primary challengers to those “no” voters.

“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided state senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun said. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the president to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

On the eve of the vote, Trump took to social media to criticize Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray, who for weeks had cautioned that the measure did not have sufficient support to pass through his chamber, and his “soon to be very vulnerable friends.”

“Anybody that votes against Redistricting, and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C., will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Wednesday night. “If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats.”

But after several hours of discussion Thursday afternoon, 21 members of the Republican supermajority joined all 10 of the chamber’s Democrats in voting to reject the proposal, which failed 31-19.

Earlier Thursday, at an IBJ Media Innovate Indiana event, Braun said that Republicans might need “some reconciliation” after the divisions over redistricting. But he said of “any trial or tribulation” that “you get better from it.”

The map proposed in House Bill 1032 was designed to help Republicans win all nine of Indiana’s congressional seats, up from the seven they currently hold. The proposal split Indianapolis into four districts that each extended into rural areas, which would have reshaped the 7th District, currently represented by Democratic Rep. André Carson. That district currently covers about two-thirds of the city. The proposed maps would also have substantially changed the northwest Indiana district held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan.

Thursday’s vote came after a monthslong pressure campaign from the Trump administration to support the unusual move. District boundaries are usually adjusted based on the U.S. Census counts every 10 years.

The White House mounted an aggressive lobbying push in recent months. Vice President JD Vance met twice with Indiana Senate GOP leaders, including the full caucus in October, and senators also visited him in Washington.

Trump himself joined a conference call with senators on Oct. 17 to make his own pitch. Prior to the vote, Republican Sen. Andy Zay told The Associated Press that White House political aides stayed in frequent contact for more than a month, even after he backed the bill, urging him to publicly support it and track developments among colleagues as part of a “full-court press.”

The Indiana House passed the proposal last week, with 12 Republicans siding with Democrats in opposition. But the bill’s chances in the Senate were uncertain, with Bray reluctantly announcing his chamber would convene to take up the measure this week, despite warnings that senators might reject the effort.

In a written statement Thursday afternoon, Bray said his caucus supports Trump and his policies but that many of them disagreed with the idea of redrawing the maps mid-cycle.

“Indiana Senate Republicans want to see a Republican majority in congress at the midterms. The issue before us today was how to get there, and many of my caucus members don’t think redrawing our congressional map mid-cycle is a guaranteed way for Indiana–or our country–to achieve that outcome,” Bray said. “It’s time to turn the page. Hoosiers need leadership from their state government that will continue to improve our education system and make life more affordable for Hoosiers.”

Bray voted against the redistricting measure.

Nationally, mid-cycle redistricting so far has resulted in nine more congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six more congressional seats that Democrats think they can win. However, the new maps are being litigated in several states.

Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina quickly enacted new GOP-favorable maps, while California voters approved a new congressional map favorable to Democrats in response to Texas. In Utah, a judge imposed new districts that could allow Democrats to win a seat, saying Republican lawmakers violated voter-backed standards against gerrymandering.