Indiana Republicans have withstood immense pressure from President Donald Trump — and ignored threats on their lives — to defeat his plan to redraw the state’s congressional map, dealing him one of his most significant political setbacks since his return to the White House.
The GOP-controlled state Senate on Thursday voted down the map that gerrymandered two more safe GOP seats, undercutting the party’s chances at holding control of Congress next November.
The failed vote is the culmination of a brass-knuckled four-month pressure campaign from the White House on recalcitrant Indiana Republicans that included private meetings and public shaming from Trump, multiple visits from Vice President JD Vance, whip calls from Speaker Mike Johnson, and veiled threats of withheld federal funds.
The members held out in spite of pipe bomb threats, unsolicited pizza deliveries and swattings of their homes.
