JD Vance visits Indiana governor, other GOP leaders in redistricting push
Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Vice President JD Vance is in the Indiana Statehouse Thursday to meet with Gov. Mike Braun and other legislative leaders as the White House kicks up pressure on Republican-leaning states to redraw their congressional maps to help the U.S. House of Representatives candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
Vance was brought in through tunnels to keep him away from the public as protesters rallied outside the governor's office, CNN reported.
Braun confirmed earlier this week that redistricting will be among the topics Vance will discuss Thursday with the governor, House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, all Republicans, in a closed-door meeting, the Indianapolis Star reported.
To redraw the congressional maps in Indiana, Braun would have to call a special session, bringing lawmakers back to approve new maps. Republicans already control seven of the nine congressional seats in the state.
Multiple protests were staged in response to the visit, including a sit-in at the Statehouse and a protest at the Governor's Residence.
"You can rest assured that if they decide to go ahead with this, we'll use every procedural maneuver available to us to try to slow it down and try to defeat it and try to give the public an opportunity to weigh in," said state Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, the Star reported.
"The governor can single-handedly stop this by simply refusing to call the special session," he said. "If he does, the leaders of the legislature need to say, 'No, we're not going to subvert democracy just to satisfy President Trump.'"
The Indianapolis meeting comes as Texas Republicans seek to redraw the state's maps to add five Republican House seats, an effort Democrats are blocking by fleeing the state to deny the Texas House the two-thirds quorum necessary.
Republicans are also eyeing Ohio, where a state law requires the maps to be redrawn, and Missouri, for more seats. Democratic governors in California, Illinois, New York and other states are threatening to retaliate with their own redistricting.
In a recent fundraising email, Indiana House Democrats said they would consider a walkout, the Star reported.
"In 2011, our Hoosier Democratic legislators walked out of the General Assembly to fight for workers' rights. We were willing to put it all on the line to protect our state from extreme government overreach," the email said. "We know the fight our fellow Democrats are going through down south, and we know it may be only a matter of time before Indiana is next."
But Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly. That means they have enough members for a quorum without any Democrats there.
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