Vice President JD Vance visited Indiana’s state capitol Thursday as part of the White House’s pressure campaign to get Republican-led states to redraw their congressional maps. But the state’s top Republican politicians were hesitant to commit to the effort.
Redrawing the state’s maps outside of the typical 10-year cycle in Indiana would require Gov. Mike Braun, state Sen. Rodric Bray and state House Speaker Rep. Todd Huston to all be on board. All three were noncommittal about the effort after their conversations with Vance.
Braun said he “discussed a number of issues” with Vance in a post on social media.
The former U.S. senator-turned-governor told reporters only that he “listened” to Vance.
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Bray said in a statement after the meeting that he will “continue to talk through” a “variety of issues” that he and the vice president discussed. He did not specifically mention redistricting. Huston said in a statement that the legislative leaders “will continue conversations” that came out of Vance’s visit.
Braun has criticized Democrats’ complaints about Republicans’ redistricting attempts. During an appearance on Fox News on Thursday morning, he said Democratic politicians are “hypocritically” complaining about gerrymandering.
But he has stopped short of pushing an effort in his own state.
“It is unusual to do it outside a census,” Braun said on Fox News. He also deflected a question about whether he was on board with redrawing the maps, saying only that he would be “listening to JD” on the issue. He also told reporters earlier in the week that any redistricting discussion would be “exploratory.”
Indiana has only two Democratic members in its congressional delegation. Any changes to the congressional maps would likely be centered around the state’s 1st District, represented by Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, which the Cook Political Report has deemed a competitive race. But doing so would be complicated.
So far, the state’s lieutenant governor is sounding the most enthusiastic about the prospect. “Your bold leadership and unwavering support for President Trump’s mission to expand the conservative majority in Congress is exactly what America needs right now,” Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith posted.
Other influential GOP figures have gone so far as to discourage the state’s Republicans from pursuing a map change ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told Politico on Thursday that mid-decade redistricting would be “wrong” and turn into a “partisan wrangle.”
Indiana has been applauded for its relatively nonpartisan maps, with Princeton University’s Gerrymandering Project awarding the state an “A” on its redistricting report card. Among the Republican-majority states eyeing to push Democrats out by redrawing their maps, there’s a mix of records: Nebraska and Missouri also scored well, but Texas, Ohio and South Carolina all failed.
Operatives in the state have also cautioned that jumping into the redistricting frenzy could backfire in Indiana.
“My sense is the governor and lawmakers are hesitant to go along with the Trump-Vance redistricting plan because we take great pride in our maps,” GOP strategist and former Indiana Republican Party staffer Pete Seat wrote in an analysis of the ongoing conversations. “Statehouse Republicans promised to respect existing boundaries (townships, cities, counties) as much as possible and keep communities of interest intact.”
Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has encouraged the party to abandon its usual rulebook in response to the growing number of red states looking to redraw their maps, and Democratic governors and politicians around the country have vowed to jump into the battle.
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