If Indiana Republican senators had any doubt about what to do with President Donald Trump’s redistricting proposal, he helped them make up their minds the night before this week’s vote.
In a social media screed, accused the state’s top senator of being 鈥渁 bad guy, or a very stupid one.”
鈥淭hat kind of language doesn鈥檛 help,鈥� said Sen. Travis Holdman, a banker and lawyer from near Fort Wayne who voted against the plan.
He was among 21 Republican senators who dealt Trump one of the most significant political defeats of his second term by in Indiana. The decision undermined the president’s to boost his party’s chances in the upcoming midterm elections.
In interviews after Thursday’s vote, several Republican senators said they were from the start because their constituents didn’t like it. But in a Midwest nice rebuttal to , some said they simply didn’t like the president’s tone, like when he called senators 鈥渟uckers.鈥�
鈥淚 mean, that鈥檚 pretty nasty,鈥� said Sen. Jean Leising, a farm owner from Oldenburg who works at her daughter鈥檚 travel agency.
Trump didn’t seem to get the message. Asked about the vote, the president once again took aim at Indiana’s top senator, Rodric Bray.
鈥淗e鈥檒l probably lose his next primary, whenever that is,” Trump said. “I hope he does, because he鈥檚 done a tremendous disservice.鈥�
Sen. Sue Glick, an attorney from La Grange who also opposed redistricting, brushed off Trump’s threat to unseat lawmakers who defied him.
鈥淚 would think he would have better things to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would be money better spent electing the individuals he wants to represent his agenda in Congress.鈥�
Trump struggled to get traction in Indiana
The president tried to brush off the defeat, telling reporters he 鈥渨asn鈥檛 working on it very hard.”
But the White House had spent months engaged in what Republican Sen. Andy Zay described as 鈥渁 full-court press.鈥�
Vice President JD Vance met with senators twice in Indiana and once in Washington. White House aides frequently checked in over the phone.
Holdman said the message behind the scenes was often more soothing than Trump’s social media attacks.
鈥淲e were getting mixed messages,” he said. 鈥淭wo days before the vote, they wanted to declare a truce on Sen. Bray. And the next day, there鈥檚 a post on Truth Social that didn鈥檛 sound like truce language to me.鈥�
Some of Trump’s other comments caused backlash too. For example, he described Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as 鈥渞etarded,鈥� which upset Sen. Mike Bohacek because his daughter has Down syndrome. Bohacek had been skeptical of redistricting and decided to vote no in response.
The White House did not respond to questions about outreach to senators, but it distanced itself from conservative allies who claimed Trump had threatened to withhold money from the state.
“President Trump loves the great state of Indiana,” said spokesman Davis Ingle, who insisted Trump “has never threatened to cut federal funding and it鈥檚 100% fake news to claim otherwise.鈥�
Regardless, Trump had struggled to get traction despite months of pressure.
Holdman said he turned down an invitation to the White House last month because he had a scheduling conflict.
鈥淧lus, by then it was a little too late,鈥� he said.
Leising said she missed a call from a White House official the day before a vote while she was in a committee meeting. She didn’t try to call back because she wasn’t going to change her mind.
Mitch Daniels, a former Indiana governor and a Republican, had a straightforward explanation for what happened.
鈥淔olks in our state don鈥檛 react well to being bullied,鈥� he said.
Daniels鈥� successor as governor, Mike Pence, fielded calls from senators during the redistricting debate, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity to disclose private conversations.
The person declined to describe Pence鈥檚 advice. Pence has been at odds with Trump ever since he, while serving as his vice president, refused to help Trump overturn his election defeat to Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
Senators said their voters didn’t want new districts
Some Republicans lashed out at senators for defying Trump.
“His life was threatened 鈥� and he was nearly assassinated,” Indiana Lieutenant Gov. Micah Beckwith wrote on social media. 鈥淎ll for what? So that Indiana politicians could grow timid.鈥�
The message to the president, Beckwith said, was 鈥済o to hell.鈥�
But senators who opposed redistricting said they were just listening to their constituents. Some believed the unusual push to redraw districts was the equivalent of political cheating. Others didn’t like that Washington was telling Indiana what to do.
The proposed map would have divided Indianapolis into four pieces, grafting pieces of the city onto other districts to dilute the influence of Democratic voters. But in small towns near the borders with Kentucky and Ohio, residents feared the state’s biggest metropolitan area would gain influence at their expense.
鈥淐onstituents just didn鈥檛 want it,鈥� Holdman said.
During Thursday’s vote on the Senate floor, some Republicans seemed torn about their decision.
Sen. Greg Goode, who is from Terre Haute, said he had spoken twice to Trump on the phone while weighing the redistricting plan. He declared his 鈥渓ove鈥� for the president but decried 鈥渙ver-the-top pressure.鈥�
Goode said he wouldn’t vote for the proposal.
鈥淚鈥檓 confident my vote reflects the will of my constituents,” he said.
____ Beamont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan.
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