President Donald Trump’s furious effort to force Indiana Republicans to adopt a new congressional map designed to eliminate the state’s only two House seats held by Democrats failed Thursday after enough Republican state senators voted against it. The final vote was 19-31 with most Republicans voting against it.

Trump’s failure in Indiana is a big loss for his attempt to gerrymander the House by forcing GOP-governed states to engage in unprecedented mid-cycle gerrymandering to eliminate as many Democratic-held seats as possible before the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats have fought Republicans to a tie after California tied Texas by redrawing five House seat lines and likely blocked a Missouri map that eliminated one Democratic seat.

No state has ever faced as much pressure to enact a new congressional midterm map to erase seats currently held by Democrats as Indiana. Trump pressured lawmakers with promises to back primary challenges if they opposed him. Vice President JD Vance made multiple trips to the state Capitol to cajole Republican lawmakers. The growing pressure also led to a series of serious violent threats against Republican lawmakers who did not support redistricting.

White House pressure and violent threats increased after the Indiana Senate adjourned the first special session on redistricting called by Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, in November. At the time, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, a Republican, declared that his party did not have the votes to approve the map.

State Sen. Greg Goode, R-Indiana, was one of several Republican state senators who faced violent threats for opposing Trump's redistricting push.
State Sen. Greg Goode, R-Indiana, was one of several Republican state senators who faced violent threats for opposing Trump’s redistricting push.

Cahitis Sullivan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Members of the Republican Party who voted in favor of a postponement soon became the target of increasingly dangerous threats. Someone tried to get police to invade Senator Spencer Deery’s home with a false notice of imminent danger, a practice known as swatting. The same thing happened to Senators Greg Walker and Greg Goode. Senator Jean Leising was the subject of a homemade bomb threat. Senator Linda Rogers reported threats at her home and business.

These threats arose from Trump’s increasingly angry tirades against Republicans who did not do what he demands. These attacks continued until Thursday’s final vote.

“Indiana Senate ‘Leader’ Rod Bray enjoys being the only person in the United States of America who is against Republicans picking up additional seats, in the case of Indiana, two of them,” Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. “He is putting every ounce of his limited strength into asking his soon-to-be very vulnerable friends to vote with him. By doing so, he is putting the majority in the House of Representatives, Washington, DC, at risk, and at the same time putting anyone in Indiana who votes against this Redistricting at risk.”

Trump promised to “do everything in my power to make sure they don’t hurt the Republican Party and our country again.”

In the end, threats from the president or the public did not deter the few Republicans who broke ranks. The few who spoke during Thursday’s debate highlighted their conservative bona fides while arguing that gerrymandering undermined democratic accountability.

“No one benefits when we protect those who wield the power of the voters’ will,” Deery said. “Fighting fire with fire burns the world.”

After the vote, Trump denied that he cared much.

“I wasn’t working very hard on it. It would have been nice,” Trump said. “I wasn’t very involved.”