President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday after a number of Indiana Senate Republicans rejected a GOP-backed redistricting map, singling out State Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray and warning that he would support a primary challenger against him.
“I’m sure that whenever his primary is, I’m sure he’ll go down. I’ll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him,” Trump said.
“I’ve won Indiana all three times by a landslide. I wasn’t working on it very hard, I think it would have been nice … I think we would have picked up two seats,” Trump added. “It’s a great place, I love the people there, they love me. I got record votes. There’s no reason for doing that, and the Democrats do it to us.”
Why It Matters
The bill’s failure represents a rupture in Republican ranks and highlights the ongoing national debate over partisan map-drawing.
The proposal, which aimed to secure additional Republican seats, was defeated by a coalition of 21 GOP lawmakers—despite their party’s overwhelming majority—and all 10 chamber Democrats. This loss could potentially impact Republican chances in the 2026 midterms and possibly threaten the GOP’s slim House majority.
What To Know
The Indiana redistricting proposal would have split Indianapolis into four congressional districts favorable to Republicans. The measure, which passed the Indiana House with a 57-41 vote, was heavily lobbied for by President Trump, who launched personal attacks against Bray and pressured Republican lawmakers to support the bill.
Despite saying he wasn’t “working on it very hard,” Trump had personally urged Republican state senators to back the plan and pressed his case on social media, warning that he would support primary challengers against anyone who opposed it.
In a post to Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said that he has won Indiana by “MASSIVE Majorities” and suggests that the state now has a chance to “make a difference” in determining the GOP’s margin in the House.
“Every other State has done Redistricting,” Trump wrote, claiming Indiana is the lone outlier because Bray “enjoys being the only person… who is against Republicans picking up extra seats.”
The president accused Bray of urging “soon to be very vulnerable friends” to oppose new maps and said doing so “puts the Majority in the House… at risk.”
He alleged Bray and allies are “partner[ing] with the Radical Left Democrats,” calling them “Republican ‘SUCKERS’” and “the favorite Republicans of Hakeem Jeffries, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, and Cryin’ Chuck Schumer.”
Trump warned that “anybody… who votes against Redistricting… will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary,” adding he would “do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again.”
He also invoked former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a Republican, and GOP strategist Cam Savage, accusing them of “fighting against the Republican Party, all the way.”
What People Are Saying
Vice President JD Vance, who has traveled to Indiana to rally support for the proposed map, wrote on X, “Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn’t fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it. That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side.”
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, wrote on X, “If Indiana Republicans side with these Never Trumpers to do the dirty work of Democrats, I’ll be spending a lot of time in Indiana next year campaigning against every single one of them. PS: These RINO consultants sabotaging MAGA need to be rooted out of the GOP!!!”
Spencer Deery, one of the Republican senators who voted no on Thursday, said “The federal government should not dictate by threat or other means what should happen in our states.”
Indiana state Senator Mike Gaskill, a Pendleton Republican, declared on Thursday that a “second civil war has already started” in the United States, as he urged his colleagues to back the redistricting push: “I will submit to you that the Second US Civil War has already started. They’re just using surrogates,” the Republican lawmaker said. The Indiana state senator added, “I submit to you that that’s accurate.”
What Happens Next
Indiana cannot revisit the issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, but other efforts are underway across the country to redraw maps to try to affect the makeup of the House and Senate after next November.
Updates: 12/11/25, 7:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Updates: 12/11/25, 7:55 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
