BY: CASEY SMITH AND TOM DAVIES, INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Indiana senators advanced a controversial congressional redistricting bill in a 6-3 vote Monday — but multiple Republican lawmakers signaled they remain open to voting no when it reaches the chamber floor.

The Senate Elections Committee approved the measure, with both Democrats opposed and joined by one Republican, Sen. Greg Walker of Columbus. The bill now heads to the full Senate for a vote expected Thursday.

Committee Chair Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, sponsored the bill — and briefly spoke in defense of President Donald Trump — but said he would save most of his arguments for the Senate floor. 

“I have very compelling arguments for why I want this bill to pass,” he said. “The only thing that really bothers me so bad is … the very negative comments towards President Trump. That man sacrificed an awful lot. … If the swamp in D.C. can turn on someone like President Trump, they can turn on any of us.”

Walker delivered more than 20 minutes of emotional remarks — at one point moved to tears — explaining why he could not support the mid-cycle redistricting effort.

“I fear for this institution … if we allow intimidation and threats to be the norm,” he said. “I refuse to be intimidated. I will not normalize that kind of behavior.”

Numerous legislators have been subject to swatting or other intimidation tactics. Trump has also threatened lawmakers who oppose the bill with primary opponents.

He pushed back on suggestions that voting no is “easy” because he isn’t seeking reelection, and divulged to the committee that “some little seed in the back of my head is saying go ahead and file.”

Walker said the bill’s language leaves “no room for wiggle,” and warned that courts will eventually scrutinize its intent.

“I cannot, in good conscience, support this bill going forward,” he said.

Republican Sens. Greg Goode, Stacey Donato and Linda Rogers all voted to move the bill out of committee, but each indicated openness to change their votes later.

A six-hour public hearing on the bill was largely dedicated to public testimony. Of the 99 who testified, 80 spoke against the bill while 19 said they were in favor.

The committee defeated four Democrat amendments that included efforts to increase transparency around the redistricting process and to require any map redraws to be nonpartisan.

Senators are expected to meet again on Wednesday to consider other possible amendments to the proposal in House Bill 1032, with a full Senate vote expected Thursday.

But the Indiana Senate’s Republican leader wasn’t making predictions Monday about the fate of the proposal that’s become a test of loyalty to Trump.

Hundreds of anti-redistricting protesters filled the corridor outside the Senate chamber as it began taking up the bill that Republicans pushed through the House last week.

GOP Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray has warned for months that not enough senators supported redrawing the maps for the issue to win approval.

When asked Monday whether he believes there were enough votes for redistricting now, Bray avoided a direct answer.

“I’ve said before that they weren’t there,” Bray told reporters. “People are having a conversation about it. Senators know there’s going to be a chance to vote on it, so we’ll see Thursday.”

Nearly 100 Hoosiers testify

Gaskill kept testifiers to a strict, two-minute timer at the front of the chamber that ticked down 120 seconds each time someone came to the microphone to speak.

He also warned against using signs or applauding, even telling police to remove people who clap.

Gaskill didn’t allow senators to question anyone who spoke, saying “it’s intimidating enough” to give testimony. He said he wanted to avoid legislators “grilling” members of the public “who’ve come to share their opinions with us.”

While the Senate held a brief floor session Monday anti-redistricting protestors could be heard from outside the chamber, chanting, “No cheaters!” over and over again, and “No redistricting!” 

Many were holding signs with sayings like, “Protect our vote!” and “Democracy doesn’t get redrawn.”

The proposed congressional map targets Indiana’s current two Democratic U.S. House members and is designed to create a 9-0 Republican map ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

Hoosiers from all over Indiana descended on the Statehouse, from Valparaiso and Chesterton to Greenwood and Vincennes.

Initial testimony was split on the issue — a marked difference from last week’s Indiana House hearing where 43 were against and only two in support. But the number opposed to the bill ultimately outweighed those in support.

Among the testifiers were teachers, farmers, small business owners and current — and former — local public officials. 

Those in opposition called the bill “unwanted,” “harmful” and “abhorrent,” while some described mid-cycle redistricting as a “partisan power grab” that is “being shoved down our throats by Washington outsiders.”

Supporters, meanwhile, called the move to redraw maps “absolutely necessary.”

Mike Morris, with Lafayette Citizens in Action, told the committee “it’s time for Republicans to take a page from (Democrats’) playbook.”

He noted that U.S. Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan — Indiana’s two Democratic members of Congress — have supported tax hikes and twice voted to impeach President Trump.

“Senators, I urge you not to just merely be in office, but to be in power, and to use that power to save our federal republic,” he said.

John Colburn, of Sellersburg, additionally called on senators “to help fight the actions of California, Illinois, New York and others.”

“If, by your inaction, a Democratic majority enters the House of Representatives in January, the result will be the beginning of two years of more accusations and investigations based upon the lies and deceit,” he said.

‘Purely for political performance’

But Kelly Thompson, a Democratic congressional candidate in northern Indiana’s 3rd District, said she was “appalled” that the House had advanced the redistricting measure and that lawmakers “have forgotten who it is that they have been hired by, and who they are obligated to represent.”

“Instead of fighting for Hoosiers — the majority of which are against mid-cycle redistricting maps for Congress — they have chosen to cave to the pressure of the very people they have pledged to protect us from, the D.C elite,” she said.

Hoosier military veteran Lasima Packett, also opposed, called the bill “purely for political performance.”

“Today, the Senate has the opportunity to not just vote on the bill, but to lead the nation to show that in our state, we do not cave to the pressures from Washington, D.C.,” she said. “We do not redraw the democracy to suit a moment. And here, in this state, we still believe in fairness, transparency and the right for every Hoosier to be fully represented.”

Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell, who spoke against the bill in the House Elections Committee a week prior, continued to express concerns in the Senate chamber on Monday, citing “costly” and time consuming election administration changes that would plague the state’s most populated county if the legislation passes.

She said the county, which encompasses Indianapolis, would need to spend “at least $1 million” to implement new maps ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

The clerk additionally warned that lawmakers would need an amendment to remedy precinct data that’s missing from the current bill draft.

“This work has to be done manually. There is no way around that,” Sweeney Bell said. “Of course, you use a computer, but human eyes have to look at it. You can’t count on (artificial intelligence) to do it all.”

Gregory Katter, also of Marion County, downplayed those concerns, though. Updating “hundreds of thousands of records,” he said, would only take “pretty simple GIS database changes.”

The House approved the redistricting bill Friday, as expected, on a vote of 57-41. Twelve Republicans joined all Democrats present in opposition.

Indiana’s Constitution requires a majority of the 50-member Senate to approve legislation. That means the 40-member Republican supermajority must muster at least 26 votes to pass the bill if all 10 Democrats oppose. GOP Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith can break a 25-25 tie but only if there are no absences.

Sixteen Senate Republicans have publicly come out in favor of a redraw — some more enthusiastically than others — and 14 are against. The remaining 10 Republican senators haven’t taken a public stance.

Gov. Mike Braun has stood by threats that he and Trump have made to support Republican primary challengers against recalcitrant senators — and to keep up the pressure campaign if the Senate were to reject the new maps next week.