Voting rights advocates warned that ‘hasty’ mid-census redistricting in Indiana would negatively impact minority voters, particularly in Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis.
Ami Gandhi, the director of strategic initiatives and Midwest voting rights programs for Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said she’s concerned about the possibility that mid-cycle redistricting could happen “in a rushed and unfair manner.”
“Rushing through the redrawing of maps without a process that involves community input will dilute the voting power of communities of color, and it’s not acceptable,” Gandhi said. “We eagerly await more information so that we could more specifically assess the implications of any possible change to the district lines. But the rush in and of itself is a danger to our communities’ voting rights.”
Indiana Republicans went to the White House Tuesday to talk with Trump administration officials about redistricting, and some Republican legislators have come out in support of redistricting.
Politico reported that Vice President JD Vance met with more than 55 Indiana Republicans to discuss redistricting during a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Trump then met privately with House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, Politico reported.
Huston, R-Fisher, and Bray, R-Martinsville, issued statements Wednesday stating that redistricting was discussed during the meeting, but did not provide further information or indicate where they stand on the issue.
“While redistricting did come up and members were able to ask questions, we spent the bulk of our afternoon discussing issues like energy, immigration and preventing waste and fraud in government,” Bray said.
Huston said those in attendance heard from Vance and other officials about the work the administration has been doing.
“A wide range of topics were discussed including education, energy, immigration, fiscal responsibility and redistricting, and members were able to ask questions and share their thoughts. We look forward to Indiana continuing to have a strong partnership with the Trump administration,” Huston said.
President Donald Trump and national Republicans have been pressuring red states to change their congressional maps before the 2026 election to increase Republican control of the U.S. House.
Texas lawmakers recently approved redistricted maps to include five new districts that would favor Republicans. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised to quickly sign off on the new maps, but a lawsuit has already been filed against Abbott and the Secretary of State for the maps.
In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved a special election to take place in November for residents to vote on a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more House seats next year.
Meanwhile, Trump has pushed other Republican-controlled states, including Indiana and Missouri, to also revise their maps to add more winnable Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.
It is unusual for redistricting to take place in the middle of the decade and typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the census.
Indiana was last redistricted in 2021, which left Congressional Republicans with seven seats and Democrats with two seats. The two Democratic seats are the First District, held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, and the Seventh District, held by U.S. Rep. André Carson.
Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, said when Indiana legislators approach redistricting, there aren’t many rules they have to follow, particularly when creating congressional districts.
When creating congressional districts, Indiana legislators have to make sure the districts are relatively equal in population and that they honor the Voting Rights Act by not unfairly dividing or packing minority voters, Vaughn said.
Indiana’s nine congressional districts were established by reapportionment, or the redistribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on population changes, Vaughn said.
Since the number of congressional districts can’t change, it’s likely Indiana’s Republican leaders, who would control redistricting, would look at the First and Seventh districts to make some gains, Vaughn said.
The Seventh District is the only district in Indiana where less than half of the area, or 47%, is white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Black Hoosiers, the second-largest racial group behind white Hoosiers, made up less than one-third of the district.
In the First District, 63% of residents identified as white in a 2023 survey compared to the 17% who identified as Black, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Of the two districts, the First District would likely be the easiest to shift, “and not cause a negative effect for the Republican candidates in the other districts,” Vaughn said. Given the population breakdown, Vaughn said there’s less chance of violating the Voting Rights Act in the First District.
Splicing the Seventh District, which includes Marion County, would prove challenging because of the Voting Rights Act protections, she said.
“It depends on how greedy they want to be. This is all about what state is doing what, and how many can the Democrats pick up here and how many can the Republicans pick up there. If the direction from Washington is, we need two more out of Indiana, then that’s what they would do,” Vaughn said.
Gandhi, who focuses on voting rights in Illinois and Indiana, said central and Northwest Indiana have large, energized populations of minority voters, and “it’s critical to hear input from those community leaders during the formative stages or any map redrawing.”
Racial gerrymandering, or drawing districts to pack or crack minority voters, is still illegal under federal law, Gandhi said. But, from a voter rights and civil rights perspective, mid-census redistricting could confuse and disenfranchise voters, Gandhi said.
“Hoosiers insist from our leaders that they can do the right thing here. They can demonstrate their support for their constituents for all of the residents in their districts to have access to a free and fair election. Our leaders can resist the external pressures, including from the federal administration, and instead conduct redistricting in a fair manner that doesn’t put voters’ rights in jeopardy,” Gandhi said.
Ultimately, Democratic Hoosier voters have to go into a congressional district, so Indiana Republican leaders face the possibility of diluting their current Republican districts with more Democratic voters, Vaughn said.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why they haven’t pulled the trigger here in Indiana yet. They tend to be a very cautious bunch of people,” Vaughn said. “This could easily backfire on them, particularly in an off-year election with an unpopular president.”
Another challenge with redistricting ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections is that Indiana congressional candidates have to file for candidacy in early January, Vaughn said.
“As each day goes on, it’s becoming more and more critical for those candidates, those people who want to run for Congress, to know where the district lines fall. Every day that passes is good for us who don’t want this to happen because at a certain point it’s going to be too late in the election calendar,” Vaughn said.
While the legislature hasn’t stated it would redistrict state legislative maps during a potential special session, Vaughn said changing congressional districts could impact state legislators when voters cast a ballot.
Congressional races are at the top of the ticket, Vaughn said, and voters tend to be more aware of congressional races compared to state and local races.
“These are important races that often drive people to vote. Do you really want to rile up a bunch of people in an election where people are already anxious and unhappy?” Vaughn said.
Vaughn and Gandhi both said various groups have been preparing for litigation against potential redistricted maps.
akukulka@post-trib.com