Indiana lawmakers on Thursday rejected a mid-decade overhaul of the state’s congressional map that would’ve increased the odds of sending more Republicans to Washington, taking pressure off Illinois Democrats to jump into a national redistricting tit-for-tat started by President Donald Trump.
Twenty-one senators from the Republican supermajority and all 10 of the Hoosier chamber’s Democrats voted down the redistricting proposal which passed the state’s House last week.
Trump has urged GOP-led states to gerrymander their U.S. House districts ahead of the midterms to create more winnable seats for Republicans. It’s an unusual move, since the district boundaries are usually adjusted based on the census every 10 years.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s other top Democrats had signaled they would respond in kind if Indiana reworked the maps to expand the GOP advantage in its congressional delegation from 7-2 to 9-0.
Pritzker, a vocal Trump opponent and potential 2028 presidential contender, suggested Illinois’ threat to retaliate helped defeat the measure across the border — and he didn’t rule out an effort to expand his state’s 14-3 Democratic edge.
“Our neighbors in Indiana have stood up to Trump’s threats and political pressure, instead choosing to do what’s right for their constituents and our democracy,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Illinois will remain vigilant against his map rigging — our efforts to respond and stop his campaign are being heard.”
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch also applauded Indiana lawmakers, adding that “we remain vigilant and committed to protecting our democracy.” A spokesman for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon said “we will review our options as needed.”
Republican Indiana state Sen. Mike Gaskill, who carried the bill, pointed to Illinois’ heavily gerrymandered congressional map as a prime example of why the GOP should “fight as hard for our side as they do for theirs.”
“They take full advantage of the Democratic majority in Chicago to ace out these people that have probably got a lot in common with us — rural Midwesterners, hardworking men and women, blue-collar, farmers,” Gaskill said during Senate floor debate. “Look how they drew those maps. They want you to play by a different set of rules than what they’re willing to play by.”
But fellow Republican Sen. Spencer Deery said there was “no justification that outweighs the harms it would inflict upon the people’s faith in the integrity of our elections and our system of government.”
Ahead of the vote, Trump again criticized Indiana senators who resisted the plan, repeating his vow to back primary challengers against them.
“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. Some Indiana lawmakers have also received violent threats during the debate over the last month. Half of the state Senate is up for reelection in 2026.
Pritzker said the “subsequent threats of violence against these legislators have been unacceptable and must be denounced — not normalized.”
Republicans have carved out more favorable maps in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. Democrats have countered in California, as several other states consider joining the map melee.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries previously lobbied Illinois’ Democratic supermajority to squeeze out at least one more blue seat.
But there’s little political appetite in Springfield to revisit Illinois maps that generated difficult discussion on racial representation before they were approved in 2021.
It’d be a logistical nightmare, too. Candidates have already filed petitions to appear on Illinois’ March 17 primary ballot.
Contributing: Associated Press
