President Donald Trump has publicly singled out one of the most senior Republican lawmakers in Indiana for failing to win over enough votes to support Trump's mid-decade redistricting proposal.
In a Monday post to his Truth Social platform, Trump called Indiana Senate president pro tempore Rodric D. Bray "a Complete and Total RINO [Republican in Name Only]" for his recent statement that "there are not enough votes" to redraw U.S. House of Representatives districts ahead of the next Census. He wrote in a subsequent post that he would support a primary challenger against Bray and anyone who supported him.
"Republicans must be TOUGH and SMART if we are going to WIN the Midterms," Trump wrote in his signature style of oddly placed capital letters. "The Rod Brays of Politics are WEAK and PATHETIC. I wish he cared about saving our Country as much as Democrats care about destroying it."
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) later wrote on his official X account that he had a call with Trump, and encouraged Hoosier State lawmakers to not give up on mid-decade redistricting. Braun defended the plan by saying new maps were necessary "to ensure the MAGA agenda is successful in Congress."
"Indiana’s State Legislators must show up for work and take a public vote for fair maps to counter the gerrymandering in California and Illinois. But the Indiana State Senate is hiding behind closed doors and refusing to even bring redistricting to a vote," Braun tweeted. "Hoosiers deserve to know where their legislators stand and expect them to show up for work, not walk out and hide in the dark."
Braun's statement is misleading, as California and Illinois' redistricting measures were done in direct response to Republican redistricting in Texas and elsewhere. California's new maps – which were only put in place after Golden State voters approved a redistricting ballot initiative earlier this month — would likely give Democrats five new seats. Texas' maps are expected to tilt five Democratic seats toward Republicans. Ohio Republicans' redistricting map creates two likely new Republican seats, though Democrats are now more competitive in one GOP district. North Carolina Republicans are also likely to give the GOP one more U.S. House seat after their mid-decade redistricting effort.
Bray insisted last week that Republicans didn't have enough support in the Indiana state senate, even though the GOP controls 40 of 50 seats in the chamber. This means there are more than a 16 members of his own party who are willing to vote with the senate's 10 Democratic members against new redistricting maps.