Indiana legislative leaders met privately with Trump to discuss redistricting

Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders met privately with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss redistricting, an Indiana House spokesperson confirmed, although it remains unclear if they’ll join other states in trying to change congressional maps mid-cycle ahead of next year’s midterms.

Many Indiana lawmakers have expressed hesitation to Trump’s push to give his party an advantage in the 2026 race for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Vice President JD Vance also spoke about the subject to numerous Indiana lawmakers, who were in Washington D.C. to meet with administration officials.

Several Indiana legislators came out in support of a mid-cycle map change following the meetings, which were held as pressure mounts nationwide now that California Democrats enabled voters to decide whether to counter Republicans in Texas, whose redrawn map now awaits the governor’s signature.

“I spent the day at the White House because Hoosiers deserve to be fairly represented in DC,” Indiana Sen. Liz Brown posted on social media. “President Trump knows what’s at stake if liberal strongholds like CA bend, break and bust the rules to gerrymander their maps.”

Spokespeople for the offices of Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray provided no details on the Tuesday meeting with Trump.

The lawmakers were in Washington for White House State Leadership Conference meetings between the administration and state GOP leaders. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“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’s official statement about the conference said. Bray did not comment on the meeting with Trump.

Typically, states redraw boundaries of congressional districts every 10 years to adjust to population changes. Instead, Trump encouraged Texas Republicans to change them to send five more Republicans to Congress.

In response, California will hold a special election in November so voters can decide whether to counter the Texas advantage with a map that could help Democrats win more seats. Lawmakers in other states also are mulling the possibility.

Vance already met privately with Gov. Mike Braun and legislative leaders in Indianapolis on Aug. 7 to discuss redistricting. Braun, a staunch Trump ally, can call a special session, but suggested Indiana’s next move would depend on lawmakers’ appetites.

Republican state Rep. Craig Haggard said in an interview after the White House meeting that Vance’s argument wasn’t “strong-armed” and there’s still no broad consensus.

“I don’t think we’ll really know until we get into a session and see some actual maps,” Haggard said.

Haggard said that in a “perfect world,” Indiana’s maps would stay as they are, but he believes the Republican party needs to maintain House control to continue its platform.

“I think we’re going the right direction in this country,” said Haggard, who is challenging a longtime GOP congressman in western Indiana. “I agree with the vice president that we should use all legal and constitutional methods given us to make sure we win.”

Other Indiana Republicans have expressed opposition, saying mid-cycle redistricting is costly and could backfire politically.

“We are being asked to create a new culture in which it would be normal for a political party to select new voters, not once a decade — but any time it fears the consequences of an approaching election,” state Sen. Spencer Deery said in a statement Aug. 13.

Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers in Indiana, meaning Democrats could not stop or delay a special session by refusing to attend, like their peers in Texas did. Republicans also outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7-2. Some Republicans see an opportunity to gain all nine seats in the state, which Trump won by 19 percentage points in 2024.

The GOP would likely target Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold encompassing Gary and other cities near Chicago. Three-term Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan won reelection in 2022 and easily retained the seat in 2024 even after Republicans redrew the district to be slightly more favorable to the GOP.

Republicans could also zero in on the 7th Congressional District, composed entirely of Marion County and the Democratic stronghold of Indianapolis, but they would invite more controversy by slicing up Indiana’s largest city and diluting Black voters’ influence.