The 21 Indiana Republican state senators who joined Democrats to strike down a new congressional map championed by President Donald Trump could face primary challenges in 2026.
The state Senate, which Republicans control by a 40-10 margin, voted 31-19 on Thursday to defeat the redistricting bill that Trump and his allies had pushed for months as a way to redraw Indiana's congressional map and potentially expand the GOP's narrow House majority by two seats.
Trump and White House officials held numerous calls with Senate Republicans, and Vice President JD Vance went to Indiana twice to lobby for the proposal.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, criticized the rejection of the map and singled out Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, who voted against the measure and had said in recent months that too few GOP senators supported the unusual mid-decade redistricting effort for it to pass.
"You had one gentleman, the head of the Senate, I guess, Bray, whatever his name is," Trump said. "I heard he was against it.
"He'll probably lose his next primary, whenever that is [in 2028]. I hope he does because he's done a tremendous disservice.
"I'll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him."
Trump also argued that his strong electoral performance in Indiana — which he won in each of his three presidential campaigns — should have translated into support for the redistricting effort.
"It's funny because I won, I won Indiana all three times by a landslide, and I wasn't working on it very hard," he said.
"It would have been nice. I think we would have picked up two seats if we did that."
Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith wrote Thursday on X that "when leaders hesitate at the exact moment that calls for clarity, voters take note. Primary season has arrived, and they will remember who walked away from the fight."
In a video posted on X, Beckwith added, "We're going to find some really good America first candidates to run in this next primary season."
Gov. Mike Braun also signaled potential political consequences, saying in a statement shortly after the vote that senators who "partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity" had failed Hoosiers and would face repercussions, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
"I will be working with the president to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers," Braun said.
Turning Point Action, the conservative advocacy group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, reportedly said it would work with other organizations to spend $10 million or more on Republican primaries in 2026 and 2028 targeting lawmakers who opposed Trump.
Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation, asserted on X that Trump threatened to eliminate the state's infrastructure funding if the Indiana Senate rejected the new map.
Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, who like Bray met with Trump, Vance, and other national GOP figures about redistricting in recent months, denied the allegation.
"Never once was a threat made to me that federal funding would be impacted based on the outcome of redistricting," Huston told the Chronicle. "The White House was very professional in this process and only advocated for the importance of this issue."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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