A supporter of President Donald Trump in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 23, 2023 (Image: Shutterstock)
Several groups affiliated with President Donald Trump's MAGA movement are now applying pressure to Republican state legislators in Indiana, who have yet to pass a heavily gerrymandered congressional redistricting map.
Politico reported Friday that Turning Point Action — the electoral arm of slain MAGA activist Charlie Kirk's organization — is descending on the Hoosier State to push Indiana state senators to approve the map after previous attempts failed. The group pledged to spend more than $10 million to run candidates in Republican primaries if sitting GOP lawmakers didn't vote in favor of the new maps.
David McIntosh, who is president of the well-heeled conservative group Club for Growth, also pledged to join the effort to primary Republican incumbents depending on how they voted. He gave a "final warning" to Indiana Senate president pro tempore Rodric Bray – who Trump has singled out in multiple Truth Social posts — threatening to oust him from office if he didn't marshal enough support for the mid-decade redistricting push.
"[F]ailure to get this done means you and any other opposition will be defeated and removed from office in your next election," McIntosh said.
While the Indiana House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new maps — which would change Indiana's current maps from a 7-2 Republican advantage to a 9-0 GOP-friendly map — the Indiana Senate has consistently declined to pass them. This is despite Republicans controlling 40 of 50 seats in the state senate. Politico reported the last vote in the senate resulted in a 19-19 stalemate.
Bray has previously said he didn't have enough votes within his own party to approve the maps, meaning that at least 16 Republicans joined the chamber's 10 Democrats in opposition. One of those senators is Michael Bohacek (R), who said he would not be voting for the new maps due to Trump's use of a slur aimed at intellectually disabled people.
"This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences," Bohacek wrote on his Facebook page in November. "I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority."
Click here to read Politico's full report.