Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party appears to be weakening, but he's still king of the hill, at least for now. That means that when he says "Jump!" there are still plenty of Republicans who say, "How high, sir?"
Among Trump's current crusades, of course, is the effort to gerrymander the congressional district map in every Republican-trifecta state with at least one Democratic member in its House delegation. Why is he so obsessed? Only he knows. He could be specifically concerned about a Democratic House majority, and the subsequent impeachment(s) it might vote for. Or, it could just generally be that everything in his life is about winning and losing, and he wants to "win" the midterms.
The President has already gotten what he wants (or, at least, movement in the direction of what he wants) in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri, while the maps in Georgia and Alabama are tied up in court. That means the juiciest plum currently available for picking is Indiana, with its 7R, 2D delegation. And so, in the past few weeks, Trump has been laser-focused on the Hoosier State, twisting as many arms as he can to try to get what he wants.
Yesterday, Republicans in the Indiana State House unveiled the map they have cooked up. With it comes two pieces of good news for Trump. The first is that the proposed map chops up the D+21 IN-07 (which contains the vast majority of Indianapolis) across four districts, and also tweaks the D+1 IN-01 (basically, the northwest corner of the state). If the map is adopted, the bluest district in the state would be R+10, and not even a blue monsoon would likely be enough to produce two Democratic seats. The other piece of good news for Trump is that state House Speaker Todd Huston (R) said he's ready and rarin' to go, and that when he brings the new map to the state House floor, he has the votes for passage.
Now the bad news. As with the federal legislature, the Indiana state legislature is much more MAGA in the lower chamber than in the upper. Thus far, the Republican-dominated state Senate, which could easily pass a new map (it's 39R, 10D), has resisted Trump's pressure, declaring that this kind of monkeying around with district maps is not what Hoosier voters want. In case anyone needs a translation, here's what that means: "Making the Congressional districts Democrat-proof does not make the state Senate districts Democrat-proof, and if anyone is going to get thrown out on their ear for this stunt, it's those of us in the state Senate."
To take a specific example, after the proposed map was made public yesterday, state Sen. Michael Bohacek (R) said that he was a "no" on the map, if it should come up for a vote. His stated reason is that, in his recent attack on Gov. Tim Walz (DFL-MN), Trump used the word "retarded" as a slur. Bohacek, who has a daughter with Down Syndrome, said that was a bridge too far for him, and he's not interested in doing Trump's bidding.
Obviously, it's possible this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. However, it strikes us as potentially being a "safe" way to vote against Trump without confronting MAGA head on. We also doubt that Bohacek would venture out on an island, all by himself. He must know that there are other members of the state Senate who remain "no" votes on the new map.
Whatever is going to happen, it's going to happen soon. The state Senate, which is in recess, will hold a special session on December 8 to decide whether or not to do Trump's bidding. That's going to be a final answer, at least for the 2026 cycle, because thereafter there won't be time for map alterations, since candidates have to be able to file for the primaries, which will take place on May 5 of next year. (Z)