Despite President Trump repeatedly urging Indiana lawmakers to approve a mid-decade redistricting map that would all but guarantee Republicans additional seats in next year’s midterms, Indiana Republicans managed to do what Republicans so often do: fumble an easy win.
On Thursday afternoon, the GOP-controlled state Senate voted down the map backed by the White House. The final tally? 19 in favor, 31 against — in a chamber where Republicans hold a 40–10 supermajority:
INDIANA STATE SENATE has rejected redistricting.
19-31.
TRUMP's push for a 9-0 map failed. Big defeat for the Trump administration.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 11, 2025
Here’s a more precise breakdown of the yeas and nays:
Breaking news: Indiana State Senate rejects proposal to redistrict. https://t.co/GuWrJbXsoF pic.twitter.com/ltJOOiNpxr
— Politics & Poll Tracker ? (@PollTracker2024) December 11, 2025
As the state Senate debated the map on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance — clearly sensing that a GOP cave-in was brewing — issued a pointed warning to Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray. Vance didn’t bother with pleasantries. He told Bray flatly that “dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side.”
Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn't fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it. That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side. https://t.co/63Vg7qkpDg
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 11, 2025
Bray certainly “chose a side” — and it wasn’t the Republican one. Instead of backing a map that could have delivered the GOP two additional congressional seats in next year’s midterms, he aligned himself with Democrats to sink it.
Let that sink in:
A Republican Senate leader, in a state where the GOP holds a massive supermajority, teamed up with Democrats to block a Republican-friendly map already approved by the Indiana House just days earlier.
It’s political malpractice. It’s strategic incompetence. And it’s exactly why grassroots conservatives are sick of Republicans who campaign like fighters but legislate like timid caretakers of the status quo.
While Democrats exploit every legal tool available to maximize their power, Indiana’s GOP leadership chose to hand them a gift. Republicans had the votes, the momentum, and the White House behind them — and they still managed to blow it.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 11, 2025
If Democrats had this kind of power in their hands, they wouldn’t hesitate for a second.
