{"id":26679,"date":"2025-12-12T18:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=26679"},"modified":"2025-12-12T18:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:31:08","slug":"indiana-house-passes-redistricting-bill-as-gop-though-outcome-uncertain-in-senate-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=26679","title":{"rendered":"Indiana House Passes Redistricting Bill as GOP Though Outcome Uncertain In Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Indiana House has passed a bill to redraw the state\u2019s congressional districts, sending the proposal to the Senate, where it has encountered stronger resistance. The bill passed 57-41. Twelve Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the measure, WTHR\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

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Two representatives were excused from voting. Among the Republicans who voted no were two members of House leadership, including State Rep. Greg Steuerwald of District 40, who helped draw the maps approved in 2021. Only two Republicans spoke in favor of the bill during Friday\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s author, State Rep. Ben Smaltz of District 52, said nothing in state law prevents lawmakers from redrawing districts whenever they decide it is appropriate, as long as constitutional requirements are met.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Todd Huston of District 37 also urged support. He called the issue difficult and argued that Indiana is not operating outside the national trend.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNationally, we don\u2019t operate in a vacuum, and states are doing this all across the country \u2013 red and blue states \u2013 and we felt like it was important for us to be a part of that and make sure we used every tool we could to support a strong Republican majority,\u201d Huston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is, states all across the country have or continue to do this,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve heard we can stop it here. I don\u2019t think anybody believes that. I don\u2019t think what we do here will stop other states from doing it. I think it\u2019s the place where we are right now. This is our time to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The bill now moves to the Indiana Senate, where President Pro Tem Rod Bray of Martinsville has repeatedly said there are not enough votes to approve redistricting.<\/p>\n

Several Senate Republicans have already stated their opposition to the effort, which was initiated by President Donald Trump as part of his push to maintain control of the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Democrats spent more than three hours arguing that the proposed map divides communities of interest and weakens the voting strength of Black and brown residents, particularly in Marion County.<\/p>\n

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House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta of District 80 questioned the precedent of changing maps mid-cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens if elections don\u2019t go the way people want in \u201926? Are we going to come back in \u201927 and start moving precincts around, move one county here and there? Or what\u2019s going to happen?\u201d GiaQuinta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, now we\u2019ve set the stage to do this, unfortunately, more often than when it should be done, which is once every 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Vernon Smith of District 14 told lawmakers that passing the bill would energize Democrats in future elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t be discouraged. We will be driven to victory. We won\u2019t just lick our wounds. We\u2019ll put on our armor for war,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou asked for it. We\u2019re going to give it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the vote, Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder of Bloomington said the bill \u201ctears apart communities, strips voters of representation they voted for and hands control to national figures who are more interested in cementing absolute power rather than solving any problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHoosiers should pick their leaders. Politicians should not redraw the map to pick the voters. Hoosiers don\u2019t cheat and this bill does,\u201d Yoder said.<\/p>\n

The vote came shortly after Gov. Mike Braun spoke outside the House chamber at a pro-redistricting rally and acknowledged the resistance in the Senate but said \u201cwe will get redistricting done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braun praised Huston and House Republicans for what he called \u201cthe courage to protect Hoosier voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed map now sits with the Senate, which will take it up next week. The governor urged senators to move quickly. He said that even if the map is not adopted, \u201cthe discussion isn\u2019t over.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Braun\u2019s remarks, anti-redistricting protesters demonstrated from the upper floors of the rotunda and encouraged Republican lawmakers to vote no.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indiana House has passed a bill to redraw the state\u2019s congressional districts, sending the proposal to the Senate, where it has encountered stronger resistance. The bill passed 57-41. Twelve … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26681,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26679\/revisions\/26681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}