Trump posted repeatedly on social media about Indiana, naming individual senators and threatening primary challengers against anyone who voted no, while Vice President JD Vance went twice to Indiana to meet with lawmakers.
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Trump’s political allies tried to turn Indiana’s vote into a loyalty test, mobilizing supporters to pressure holdout Republicans. The Club for Growth and a new group led by a handful of Trump presidential campaign veterans aired ads threatening to oust incumbent senators who voted against redistricting. Turning Point USA, the group founded by Charlie Kirk, vowed to back those primary challenges and hosted a small rally at the Indiana Statehouse last week.
Much of Trump’s ire was focused on Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, the Martinsville Republican who had long insisted the Senate didn’t have enough votes to pass new maps. Bray announced after the vote failed that under Indiana Senate rules, the chamber can’t take up the maps again during its 2026 session.
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Leising said she had voted for Trump three times. But she was unhappy with the president’s efforts to pressure Indiana into scrapping and replacing its congressional maps as part of a nationwide arms race ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
“I wish that President Trump would change his tone. He needs to be more positive about what he needs to address for ’27 and ’28. Why does he need to have a Republican majority in ’27 and ’28? What is he going to do next?” Leising said.
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She also said redistricting advocates’ efforts ultimately backfired, hardening opposition in the Senate.
“You wouldn’t change minds by being mean. And the efforts were mean-spirited from the get-go,” she said. “If you were wanting to change votes, you would probably try to explain why we should be doing this, in a positive way. That never happened, so, you know, I think they get what they get.”
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