The Indiana Senate overwhelmingly rejected a bill Thursday that would have redistricted the state’s legislative districts in favor of Republicans, in a major blow to President Donald Trump.
The bill failed on a 19-31 vote, with most Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the bill, which President Trump actively lobbied for. Republicans have a 40-vote majority in the 50-member Senate.
If the redistricting bill was approved by the Senate, Republicans were expected to gain two more seats in the House. The state House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill last Friday.
Mr. Trump had threatened the state’s Republican lawmakers with primary objections if they did not support the bill.
His failure to convince them is a rare loss in his effort to redraw congressional maps in red states.
Trump succeeded in driving partisan gerrymandering in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri and Utah as Republicans seek to maintain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans hold 220 seats in the chamber, while Democrats hold 213.
Redistricting typically occurs after a new U.S. Census. The last census was conducted in 2020.
The president and his aides have launched a pressure campaign to pass new Indiana district maps, including a visit from Vice President J.D. Vance.
“President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders that if the Indiana Senate fails to pass a map, he will strip the state of all federal funding,” the right-wing group Heritage Action said in a post on X Thursday morning.
“Roads will no longer be paved. Security posts will be closed. Major projects will be canceled,” the group said in a tweet. “These are the stakes, and every negative vote will be held accountable.”
President Trump took to social media Wednesday night to slam Indiana House Speaker Rod Bray for opposing redistricting.
“He is using all of his limited strength to call on his soon-to-be extremely vulnerable friends to vote with him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“In doing so, he is putting the House majority in Washington, D.C., at risk, as well as the people of Indiana who voted against this redistricting,” President Trump wrote.
Republican Sen. Greg Good, a key swing vote, voted against the bill, refusing to clarify his position on the bill despite heavy pressure from the White House.
“Hoosiers believe we have to shift our focus to what really matters,” Good said in a speech on the floor before the vote.
“The forces that define this vitriolic political landscape in places outside of Indiana are slowly, and now very blatantly, infiltrating the political landscape in Indiana,” Good said.
He cited examples of misinformation, pressure campaigns, primaries and threats of violence.
Goode came under fire earlier this year after Trump accused Trump of “not wanting to redistrict” in a post on Truth Social.
Supporters of the new map argued it was important to protect the Republican House majority.
States across the country are pursuing redistricting to serve partisan interests after the Supreme Court barred challenges to maps drawn for partisan interests.
“If we can’t secure a majority in the House of Representatives to support this agenda, we risk handing the keys back to the very people who destabilized the world in the first place,” said Republican Sen. Chris Garten, who supports gerrymandering.
President Trump’s brazen push for gerrymandering that favors Republicans has sparked a nationwide war between Republican and Democratic-controlled states.
The maps that draw each state’s congressional districts are typically drawn by state legislators only once every 10 years, after the census.
Republican-controlled Texas adopted a map in August that gives Republicans an additional five seats. California, which has a Democratic majority, responded by adopting a new map that would give Democrats an additional five seats in the November referendum.
Redistricting actions are pending in Florida, Maryland, and Virginia.
