Red state Republicans reject Trump’s retribution campaign

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a meeting with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 17, 2026. REUTERS_Evan Vucci

Politico reports that President Donald Trump’s desire to oust eight Indiana Republican state senators who opposed his harsh mid-decade gerrymander is running into some messaging problems.

Their removal in the GOP primaries was “supposed to be a major show of force,” reports Politico. “But after millions of dollars spent and weeks of intense campaigning, his allies are still struggling to deliver a clear, consistent message” to Republican voters for why they should replace the lawmakers.

Just a few dozen people showed up to a Turning Point USA rally hosted by conservative activist Scott Pressler this past weekend. And when POLITICO asked one of Trump’s handpicked candidates what the defining issue of her campaign was, state Rep. Michelle Davis paused.

“Good question, um. Gosh, okay, defining issue. What’s it about?” said Davis, while searching for an answer.

“Well, what I say, what it’s about is, that we need real, true conservatives out there. We need someone who’s going to stand with the GOP party and the conservative people, the primary voters on stuff like common sense, stuff like making sure that boys aren’t in girls locker rooms, boys don’t play in girls sports, making sure that we stand up for parental rights, yeah, those are the kind of the defining things I think are out there.”

Politico notes that Davis did not mention that incumbent state Sen. Greg Walker, her opponent, was a vocal opponent of Trump’s gerrymandered map designed to offset voter ire at Republicans in the midterms.

“When I’m knocking on doors, not one person was talking to me about redistricting,” Davis said when pressed.

This, said Politico writer Adam Wren, was no surprise. Additionally, Trump’s personal ire at local Republicans for crossing him does not appear to be a rousing issue for GOP voters.

“Indiana’s May 5 primary is being fueled almost solely by Trump’s need for revenge,” added Wren, “a fury that has unleashed nearly $8 million and counting in ads alone — not to mention copious amounts of mail — in combined spending on what are normally sleepy and often uncontested races, according to AdImpact. But the contests represent the challenge of turning out MAGA’s low-propensity voting coalition in the midterm elections when Trump is not on the ballot — let alone attempting to galvanize his voters around an arcane issue like redrawing political maps.”

“I’ve been reminded of a lesson I learned in business a long time ago: Revenge is not a strategy,” said former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a major GOP figure who cheered the failure of Trump’s gerrymandering bid.

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