Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump’s Indiana redistricting campaign has failed — again.
What happened? On Thursday, the Indiana state Senate voted down a Trump-backed bill to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps to be more favorable to Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms. The bill, which would have created a 9-0 Republican advantage in Indiana, was rejected resoundingly, with 31 votes to 19.
The vote almost never took place, after Indiana Republicans initially rejected Trump’s call to convene a special session. Ultimately, Trump was able to browbeat Republicans into holding the vote — only to be handed an even more striking defeat.
What’s the context? Indiana is the latest focus of a national, bipartisan redistricting effort that kicked off when Trump pressured Texas lawmakers to redraw their state maps and net Republicans five additional congressional seats. Since then, things have largely not been going his way. A Democratic redistricting effort in California should neutralize GOP gains in Texas, and with Indiana staying out of the fight, Democrats may ultimately break even — or even gain seats.
Why does this matter? Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and administration allies threw a lot of weight behind this redistricting push, including issuing increasingly drastic threats. On Thursday, for example, the conservative group Heritage Action floated stripping Indiana of federal funding if lawmakers voted against Trump. Despite all of that, Trump still failed to win — or even come close — the 25 Republican votes he needed despite the GOP holding a 40-vote supermajority in the 50-seat state Senate.
Indiana Republicans have also been deluged with death threats over the bill. It’s a big deal that they failed to produce the intended result.
What’s the big picture? The conversation about whether Trump’s previously ironclad control over the Republican Party is slipping has been getting louder in recent weeks. In November, House members bucked the White House to vote to release the Epstein files. Now, Indiana has handed Trump another defeat, and a blow, to Republicans’ already-slim chances of retaining the House next year.
