IN GOP Defy Trump, Reject Redistricting12/12 06:04

   Indiana's Republican-led Senate decisively rejected a redrawn congressional 
map Thursday that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure 
from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House 
ahead of next year's midterm elections.

   INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana's Republican-led Senate decisively rejected a 
redrawn congressional map Thursday that would have favored their party, defying 
months of pressure from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback 
to the White House ahead of next year's midterm elections.

   The vote was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more 
Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signaling the limits of 
Trump's influence even in one of the country's most conservative states.

   Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional 
maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the 
House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina 
went along, Indiana did not -- despite cajoling and insults from the president 
and the possibility of primary challenges.

   "The federal government should not dictate by threat or other means what 
should happen in our states," said Spencer Deery, one of the Republican 
senators who voted no on Thursday.

   When the proposal failed 31-19, cheers could be heard inside the chamber as 
well as shouts of "thank you!" The debate had been shadowed by the possibility 
of violence, and some lawmakers have received threats.

   Trump tried to brush off the defeat, telling reporters in the Oval Office 
that he "wasn't working on it very hard" despite his personal involvement in 
the pressure campaign.

   Republicans could have erased two Democratic districts

   The proposed map was designed to give Republicans control of all nine of 
Indiana's congressional seats, up from the seven they currently hold. It would 
have effectively erased Indiana's two Democrat-held districts by splitting 
Indianapolis among four districts that extend into rural areas, reshaping U.S. 
Rep. Andr Carson's safe district in the city. It would have also eliminated 
the northwest Indiana district held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan.

   District boundaries are usually adjusted once a decade after a new census. 
But Trump has described redistricting as an existential issue for the party as 
Democrats push to regain power in Washington.

   "If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will 
eventually lose everything to the Democrats," Trump wrote on social media the 
night before the vote.

   The president said anyone who voted against the plan should lose their 
seats. Half of Indiana senators are up for reelection next year, and the 
conservative organization Turning Point Action had pledged to fund campaigns 
against them.

   David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, which had backed 
redistricting, said the vote allowed disloyal Republicans to "stick their 
finger in the eye of the president of the United States."

   Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels praised senators for "courageous 
principled leadership" in rejecting the new map.

   A Republican who has vocally criticized Trump, Daniels said the outcome was 
"a major black eye for him and all the Washington groups that piled in, spent 
money, blustered and threatened." He added that "this thing rubbed our state 
the wrong way and Republicans in our state very wrong from the jump."

   Redistricting fails despite White House pressure

   Inside the state Senate chamber, Democratic lawmakers spoke out against 
redistricting ahead of the vote.

   "Competition is healthy my friends," Sen. Fady Qaddoura said. "Any political 
party on earth that cannot run and win based on the merits of its ideas is 
unworthy of governing."

   In the hallways outside, redistricting opponents chanted "Vote no!" and 
"Fair maps!" while holding signs with slogans like "Losers cheat."

   Three times over the fall, Vice President JD Vance met with Republican 
senators -- twice in Indianapolis and once in the White House -- to urge their 
support. Trump joined a conference call with senators on Oct. 17 to make his 
own 15-minute pitch.

   Behind the scenes, James Blair, Trump's deputy White House chief of staff 
for political affairs, was in regular touch with members, as were other groups 
supporting the effort such as the Heritage Foundation and Turning Point USA.

   "The administration made a full-court press," said Republican Sen. Andy Zay, 
who was on the phone with White House aides sometimes multiple times per week, 
despite his commitment as a yes vote.

   Across the country, mid-cycle redistricting so far has resulted in nine more 
congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six more 
congressional seats that Democrats think they can win. However, some of the new 
maps are facing litigation.

   In Utah, a judge imposed new districts that could allow Democrats to win a 
seat, saying Republican lawmakers violated voter-backed standards against 
gerrymandering.

   Republicans were split over plan

   Despite Trump's push, support for gerrymandering in Indiana's Senate was 
uncertain. A dozen of the 50 senators had not publicly committed to a stance 
ahead of the vote.

   Republican Sen. Greg Goode signaled his displeasure with the redistricting 
plan before voting no. He said some of his constituents objected to seeing 
their county split up or paired with Indianapolis. He expressed "love" for 
Trump but criticized what he called "over-the-top pressure" from inside and 
outside the state.

   Sen. Michael Young, another Republican, said the stakes in Washington 
justify redistricting, as Democrats are only a few seats away from flipping 
control of the U.S. House in 2026. "I know this election is going to be very 
close," he said.

   Republican Sen. Mike Gaskill, the redistricting legislation's sponsor, 
showed Senators maps of congressional districts around the country, including 
several focused on Democratic-held seats in New England and Illinois. He argued 
other states gerrymander and Indiana Republicans should play by the same rules.

   The bill cleared its first hurdle Monday with a 6-3 Senate committee vote, 
although one Republican joined Democrats in opposing it and a few others 
signaled they might vote against the final version. The state House passed the 
proposal last week, with 12 Republicans siding with Democrats in opposition.

   Among them was state Rep. Ed Clere, who said state troopers responded to a 
hoax message claiming a pipe bomb outside his home Wednesday evening. Indiana 
state police said "numerous others" received threats but wouldn't offer details 
about an ongoing investigation.

   In an interview, Clere said these threats were the inevitable result of 
Trump's pressure campaign and a "winner-take-all mentality."

   "Words have consequences," Clere said.