The Indiana state legislature is set to vote on a new congressional map on Thursday that would favor the GOP, but after heavy pressure from the Trump White House, some critics of the move are "cautiously optimistic" that the map will fail as its opponents "dig in their heels," according to a new report from The Atlantic.
President Donald Trump has pushed for Republican-controlled states to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, to give the party a leg-up and potentially avoid losing their House majority to Democrats. Such a map has already passed in Texas, and the process is underway in Florida, but recent victories by Democrats in off-year elections have given some red states pause, worried that their gerrymandered maps could backfire in the face of a major blue swing from voters.
Among these hesitant states has been Indiana. Ordinarily, the Hoosier State's GOP governor and supermajority in the legislature might ensure a very smooth passage of a new map. However, pressure from the White House received considerable pushback from the Indiana GOP, with The Atlantic's Russell Berman hearing from sources close to the debate that Trump's "push for mid-decade redistricting simply ran afoul of the small-c conservatism on which many Indiana Republican legislators still pride themselves."
Typically, congressional maps are only redrawn once a decade to reflect changes found in the latest census. Trump's demand for new maps comes right in the middle of the period between the 2020 and 2030 census surveys, leading to criticism that he is breaking from norms to grab power for the GOP in Congress.
One anti-redistricting advocate told Berman the reason why Indiana Republicans are opposing Trump's demands was "Midwesterners being midwestern," and preferring to play by the rules and stick to political norms. Indiana State Sen. Greg Walker concurred with that idea.
“I’m such a rule follower, it’s not even funny,” Walker.
The GOP state senator also claimed to have been the target of harassment efforts after he spoke out against redistricting, receiving unsolicited pizza deliveries and "swatting" calls at his home.
“I refuse to be intimidated,” Walker said. “I fear for this institution. I fear for the state of Indiana. And I fear for all states if we allow threats and intimidation to become the norm.”
According to Berman, opponents of the redistricting effort are now "cautiously optimistic" that this pushback will help kill the new congressional maps. One anonymous state GOP member said that their worries about opponents flip-flopping on the day of the vote were assuaged after conversations in which their colleagues said they would hold firm and vote "no."
Indiana GOP redistricting opponents head into today's vote cautiously optimistic. "I don't want to say anything that's going to jeopardize the vote," one told me. Another said the heavy-handed WH pressure had caused senators "to dig in their heels." https://t.co/kPpztNGoYL
— Russell Berman (@russellberman) December 11, 2025