The Indiana Senate’s Republican leader wasn’t making predictions Monday about the fate of the congressional redistricting proposal that’s become a test of loyalty to President Donald Trump.
Hundreds of anti-redistricting protesters filled the corridor outside the Senate chamber as it began taking up the bill that Republicans pushed through the House last week.
GOP Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) has warned for months that not enough senators supported redrawing the maps for the issue to win approval.
When asked Monday whether he believes there were enough votes for redistricting now, Bray avoided a direct answer.
“I’ve said before that they weren’t there,” Bray told reporters. “People are having a conversation about it. Senators know there’s going to be a chance to vote on it, so we’ll see Thursday.”
The Senate Elections Committee was holding a public hearing Monday afternoon on the bill, with the committee chair saying 127 people had signed up to testify. Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) – chair of the committee – kept testifiers to a strict, two-minute timer at the front of the chamber that ticked down 120 seconds each time someone came to the microphone to speak.
He also warned against using signs or applauding, even telling police to remove people who clap.
A committee vote was expected late Monday afternoon.
Senators are expected to meet again on Wednesday to consider possible amendments to the proposal in House Bill 1032, with a full Senate vote expected Thursday.
While the Senate held a brief floor session Monday anti-redistricting protestors can be heard from outside the chamber, chanting, “No cheaters!” over and over again, and “No redistricting!”
Many were holding signs with sayings like, “Protect our vote!” and “Democracy doesn’t get redrawn.”
The redrawn congressional map targets Indiana’s current two Democratic U.S. House members and is designed to create a 9-0 Republican map ahead of the 2026 midterm election.
Initial testimony was split on the issue — a marked difference from last week’s Indiana House hearing where 43 were against and only two in support
Mike Morris, with Lafayette Citizens in Action, told the committee “it’s time for Republicans to take a page from (Democrats’) playbook.”
He noted that U.S. Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan — Indiana’s two Democratic members of Congress — have supported tax hikes and twice voted to impeach President Trump.
“Senators, I urge you not to just merely be in office, but to be in power, and to use that power to save our federal republic,” he said.
John Colburn, of Sellersburg, additionally called on senators “to help fight the actions of California, Illinois, New York and others.”
“If, by your inaction, a Democratic majority enters the House of Representatives in January, the result will be the beginning of two years of more accusations and investigations based upon the lies and deceit,” he said.
But Kelly Thompson, a Democratic congressional candidate in northern Indiana’s 3rd District, said she was “appalled” that the House had advanced the redistricting measure and that lawmakers “have forgotten who it is that they have been hired by, and who they are obligated to represent.”
“Instead of fighting for Hoosiers — the majority of which are against mid-cycle redistricting maps for Congress — they have chosen to cave to the pressure of the very people they have pledged to protect us from, the D.C elite,” she said.
Hoosier military veteran Lasima Packett, also opposed, called the bill “purely for political performance.”
“Today, the Senate has the opportunity to not just vote on the bill, but to lead the nation to show that in our state, we do not cave to the pressures from Washington, D.C.,” she said. “We do not redraw the democracy to suit a moment. And here, in this state, we still believe in fairness, transparency and the right for every Hoosier to be fully represented.”
The House approved the redistricting bill Friday, as expected, on a vote of 57-41. Twelve Republicans joined all Democrats present in opposition.
Indiana’s Constitution requires a majority of the 50-member Senate to approve legislation. That means the 40-member Republican supermajority must muster at least 26 votes to pass the bill if all 10 Democrats oppose. GOP Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith can break a 25-25 tie but only if there are no absences.
Sixteen Senate Republicans have publicly come out in favor of a redraw — some more enthusiastically than others — and 14 are against. The remaining 10 Republican senators haven’t taken a public stance.
Gov. Mike Braun has stood by threats that he and Trump have made to support Republican primary challengers against recalcitrant senators — and to keep up the pressure campaign if the Senate were to reject the new maps next week.