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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGov. Mike Braun has called a special session of the Indiana Legislature, set to begin Monday, Nov. 3, that could make Indiana one of states to redraw its congressional maps before next year’s midterm elections. The Trump administration has lobbied Braun and Republican lawmakers since at least August to reapportion the state’s nine districts in hopes of engineering a GOP sweep next year. Indiana’s congressional delegation already is dominated by Republicans, but two of the state’s nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives currently are held by Democrats.
Braun called the special session despite a definitive report from Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray’s office that there wasn’t enough support in the Indiana Senate to redraw the maps. But Braun believes the votes will be there. In this edition of the IBJ Podcast, host Mason King is joined by two local journalists with significant experience covering the legislature to dissect the events that led to the special session and explain how it could play out. They also discuss the history of redistricting in Indiana and the decades-long battle to expand political power by changing boundaries on a map.
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Only in Indiana’s gerrymandered State Legislature are Republicans a super majority . In Indiana’s general population Republicans are not even a majority ! They cheated and lied their way into a super majority status .
The way to counter extreme arguments is not to out-extreme the opposite; you started out with something that could be reasonably argued the super majority has been engineered, but we there is no way an argument can be made using actual voting data there is a general population in the state that is not a Republican majority..
The last two Sec State elections, the traditional benchmark in the state were 56/41/3 and 54/40/6. and reflect similar voting patterns for the last generation. A ~15- point spread sets you into Trump-land with just making-stuff-up / ignoring large, contrary facts.
But bigger picture: it’s a shame Indiana, or rather just the Governor at the moment, has prioritized national considerations over Indiana doing what’s right for Indiana. USA is still a republic last I checked. I hope enough Legislators recognize and prioritize that fact.
Let the legislature play any games they desire, as long as districts follow the FILL IT FIRST RULE.
Every state should adopt the “Fill-it-First” rule. When drawing a district for any elected office, fully use up the unit of government you start in before moving on. For example, a congressional seat needs about 700,000 people. Starting in a township that has 70,000 people gets you part way. Next, you go to an adjacent township in the same county, it has 100,000 people.
Keep adding townships without leaving the county until you get all the necessary population. If that county has less than 700,000 people, you can then go to any adjacent county. Repeat until finished.
For an office like state Representative one township might be enough. Starting with census tracts, use up your starting tract, then move to an adjacent one. When enough population is accounted for, stop. Then begin the next state Representative district in an adjacent census tract. Then follow the Fill-it-First rule to completion.
This is better than a “non-partisan” commission or judges. Let state legislatures play any games they wish to, within the above rules.
Splitting Indianapolis between 3 different districts definitely violates the “fill-it-first” rule. And that’s what will happen by the Republican super-majority to please their national leader.