Indiana Governor Says He’s Working to ‘Compel’ State Senate Into Redistricting

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday ramped up pressure on the state Senate to draw a new congressional map that would favor Republicans, following a phone call with President Donald Trump earlier this week.

The first-term Republican said he would work to “compel” the chamber to carry out the president’s wishes, despite Senate leaders acknowledging they don’t have the votes.

Republicans failed on Tuesday to call a special session next month, though party leadership is asking members to keep the first two weeks of December open in case Braun can convince enough of them to change their minds.

The pressure from Trump became even more urgent Tuesday after a federal panel of judges blocked Texas’ new congressional map, which would have likely given Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House.

Trump was originally met with a tepid response when he asked Indiana Republicans earlier this year to consider a rare, mid-decade partisan redistricting effort — one of the few Republican-controlled states to defy his wishes. A visit to the White House in August began to get some Hoosier state Republicans on board, though momentum has stalled in recent weeks.

Trump, however, is not giving up, threatening to support primary challenges against any Republicans who vote against redistricting.

The Indiana House, meanwhile, is full steam ahead on Trump’s plans, and will meet to consider redrawing its map in December.

The Senate’s intransigence has angered Braun, who is feeling the heat from Trump, who has said Braun isn’t doing enough.

“I think President Trump knows I’m fully behind it,” Braun told reporters Tuesday, adding that he is trying to force the state Senate to reconvene.

“Now I am left with no choice other than to explore all options at my disposal to compel the State Senate to show up and vote,” Braun said in a statement. “I will support President Trump’s efforts to recruit, endorse, and finance primary challengers for Indiana’s senators who refuse to support fair maps.”

Several Republicans in the state Senate, including the President pro tempore, Rodric Bray, have voiced concerns about redistricting, arguing that it is the wrong way to elect more Republicans to the House. Republicans already have a 7-2 advantage in Indiana, with the only two Democrats representing Indianapolis and the Chicago suburbs in the northwest portion of the state.

Indiana’s map is not due for a redraw until 2030.

“A number of members of our caucus — I’m included in that number — don’t feel like it’s the right way to move forward,” Bray told The Indianapolis Star.

Trump has called Bray a “RINO” and “weak and pathetic” for not supporting the redistricting effort.