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Redistricting was a hot issue in the final months of last year. It’s no longer under consideration at the Statehouse.
Still, I think it’s worth noting that we have passed the filing deadline for the 2026 Indiana primary election, and that means mid-decade redistricting is impossible for now. It will not take place in Indiana before the midterm elections.
Voters will go to the polls in seven districts with GOP majorities and two districts with Democratic majorities — not the nine GOP-friendly districts sought by President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Braun.
It also means that Senate GOP leader Rod Bray can declare victory in this battle of fairness over partisanship and power, although I expect he would rather avoid the subject than stir up the sentiments that caused Trump to declare, “Rod Bray and his friends won’t be in politics for long.”
This milestone also gives me the opportunity to address comments about Bray that I made in a Forefront column last year.
I accused the senator of engaging in censorship because he agreed to have my questions and his answers about redistricting removed from a September podcast recording. I said it was spineless for him to do so.
I stand by those comments, but I have a better understanding of the big picture now and can see that his effort to avoid the issue was part of a strategy to prevent a redistricting vote in the Senate. He played the long game, and it was a courageous stance. There was a vote, but his side won.
In the meantime, I hope he learned a lesson or two about media relations.
And speaking of the big picture, the nationwide effort to stack congressional elections in favor of Republicans that started in Texas at Trump’s request has touched on 10 states. Kansas and Indiana rejected the idea. Six states drew new maps and produced the following results:
Texas gained five GOP seats.
North Carolina gained one GOP seat.
Ohio gained two GOP seats.
Missouri gained one GOP seat.
California gained five Democratic seats.
Utah gained one Democratic seat (as the result of court-ordered redistricting).
That is a total gain of just three seats for the Republicans. But the Democrats might still have a trick or two up their sleeve.
Virginia and Maryland still have redistricting efforts pending. In Virginia, that could mean a pickup of four seats for the Democrats. Maryland could produce one more for the Democrats. That means this could all backfire on Trump before we get to Election Day.
Do not be surprised if the maps don’t matter all that much, anyway. Trump’s approval rating is slipping. Voters unhappy with the handling of the Epstein files, ICE operations and the economy are paying attention. On Feb. 1, a state Senate race in Texas saw a GOP candidate lose by 14 points in a district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024.
The midterms just might follow that trend, and that would mean several seats previously held by Republicans would fall to the Democrats.
I sometimes get asked, “How can Indiana Democrats become competitive again?” My answer is that it will take candidates, leadership and being on the right side of critical issues. Also, Trump can make it happen.
If so, the Indiana redistricting effort will be a good example of where things went off course. Punish the Democrats, divide the Republicans, attack GOP leaders and pursue misguided policies — what could go wrong?•
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Shella hosted WFYI’s “Indiana Week in Review” for 25 years and covered Indiana politics for WISH-TV for more than three decades. Send comments to [email protected].
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