Despite Indiana’s redistricting efforts continually stalling out, the state House will convene on Monday to vote on redrawing the state’s congressional maps.
According to AP, the measure should have no problem passing in the House, but it’s a different story when it comes to the state Senate. Republicans control both Indiana’s House and Senate, but several state Senators are opposed to the idea of a mid-decade redistricting effort. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called a special session in November focused on redistricting, but Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said that they didn’t have the votes.
Indiana is one of several red states President Donald Trump has tried to pressure into implementing a rare, mid-decade redistricting effort. The GOP holds a narrow majority in the House, with Democrats only needing a net gain of three seats to flip control. Trump’s approval rating continues to sink, with many of Trump’s own voters feeling like he hasn’t delivered on his campaign promises to bring down prices. November’s elections also weren’t good for Trump, as Democrats won key races in Virginia and New York.
It’s become very apparent that, despite winning the election only a year ago, Trump’s policies are already deeply unpopular. Instead of implementing policies that could tangibly improve the lives of everyday Americans, Trump has decided to redraw the voting maps in his favor.
Trump successfully convinced Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s Republican state legislators to redraw Texas’ congressional maps to give the GOP five more seats in the House. Missouri and North Carolina’s Republican state legislatures successfully redrew their maps to give Republicans an additional seat in each state, and Florida formed a committee to begin drawing new maps for the state.
Indiana was among the first states that Trump tried to pressure into a mid-decade redistricting effort, but the state legislature has proved to be surprisingly resistant to the idea. Republicans currently hold seven and the state’s nine House seats, with Trump wanting a new map that flips the two seats held by democrats.
I wish I could say Trump has been totally respectful of the Indiana state senators who are listening to the majority of Indiana voters who are against a mid-decade redistricting effort, but y’all know how the orange man moves. He’s consistently harassed Indiana’s state senators who aren’t on board with the effort, and has pledged to support anyone who runs against them. The harassment has led to state Sen. Greg Goode being swatted due to his opposition to the redistricting effort.
That’s a totally chill and normal thing for the president to let happen to a member of his own party.
Even if Indiana’s state Senators wind up deciding to redraw the state’s congressional maps, Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker has said that he would consider triggering a redistricting effort in response. While many blue states have independent redistricting committees, making it harder to immediately combat Trump’s redistricting push, there have been some successful countermoves.
Virginia launched a redistricting effort to give Democrats two to three more seats last month, ahead of the state’s November election. With Democrats taking the governor’s office, attorney general’s office, and growing their majority in the General Assembly, that measure shouldn’t face too much outside resistance.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the Election Rigging Response Act in August, which introduced Prop 50. California voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 50, which transfers control of redistricting from the state’s independent redistricting commission to the state legislature for the next five years. As a result, Gov. Newsom will implement a new congressional map that neutralizes the gains Texas made.
Prop 50 may actually flip the math significantly in the Democrats’ favor ahead of the midterms after a district court struck down the Texas map after finding it was racially gerrymandered. While Texas has appealed the ruling, and the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the matter as soon as this week, if the ruling stands, Trump’s redistricting push may have been for naught.
It’s almost like actively making life worse for everyone, including the very people who voted for you, isn’t a sound strategy for winning elections. Who knew?
SEE ALSO:
Indiana Redistricting Push Stalls As Utah Potentially Has ‘Dummymandered’ Map
President Trump Eyes Florida And Indiana In Redistricting Push
