Indiana lawmakers are meeting earlier than usual to consider updating U.S. congressional districts, half a decade before new census data is released.
Lawmakers representing Southern Indiana are expected to vote this week and next on redistricting. Members of the local delegation don’t agree on whether to rewrite the maps mid-cycle.
House members convened earlier this week and pushed a bill through committee that would allow them to redraw the lines outside the normal timeframe and establish the new districts.
They were expected to meet again Thursday and Friday to vote on amendments and a final version of the maps. The Indiana Senate is scheduled to convene Monday afternoon, a switch from that body’s previous vote to come back in January.
The question of redistricting comes after a push from the White House for Indiana and some other traditionally red states to redraw lines to strengthen Republicans’ hold on Congress ahead of the midterm elections next year.
The new Indiana map released Monday is aimed at helping Republicans. Seven of the state’s nine congressional seats are currently held by Republicans.
During a lengthy committee hearing earlier this week, Republican Bill Smaltz, the bill’s author, acknowledged the goal of this redistricting effort is political gain.
"These maps were specifically drawn for a political advantage,” he said.
The two state senators representing Clark and Floyd counties in Southern Indiana support the change. They say the state needs it to compete in Congress with Democratic-led states.
In contrast, two state House representatives from Southern Indiana say it’s unnecessary and drawing attention away from important issues they should be tackling. They also say the proposed map weakens Southern Indiana’s voice.
Democratic Rep. Wendy Dant Chesser, who represents District 71 covering Jeffersonville, said lawmakers need to focus on issues such as child care, senior needs and affordability, rather than a new map.
“I'm in Indianapolis because I have to be talking about maps when I should be talking about how we take care of citizens and residents and children in a better way,” she said Tuesday. “But that's not what we're doing here. We are distracted.”
The map proposed Monday splits Marion County, where Indianapolis is, into four districts, each connected to a farther part of the state. Its drawing of the ninth congressional district lumps Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties into an area spanning 12 counties, including part of Marion.
Dant Chesser doubts any representative could adequately address the needs of such disparate areas as Indianapolis and Southern Indiana, which is part of the Louisville metro area.
“It takes our voice and dilutes anything that we would rally around with our neighbors and puts us into a competition with a metro area in Central Indiana that we won't share the same concerns with,” she said.
Currently, Indiana’s ninth district includes a block of 18 counties along the southeastern part of the state, represented by Republican Erin Houchin.
If it passes the House Friday, the measure will head to the Indiana Senate next week.
Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray previously said that body would not meet, because it doesn’t have the votes to pass the redistricting measure, but he reversed course before Thanksgiving.
The two senators representing Southern Indiana — Republican Gary Byrne of District 47 and Republican Senate Majority Leader Chris Garten of District 45 — are expected to vote in favor of it.
Byrne said in an email to LPM News that he’s supported the plan “since day one.”
“You look at the Democrat states, they are gerrymandered,” he said. “We need to redistrict Indiana, so our congressional votes do not get watered down by Democrat states.”
He said the change is about more than just Indiana.
“This is about keeping control of congress and our representation in congress,” he said.
Regarding the large geographic footprint of the proposed district, Byrne said he has “full confidence our representatives can take care of both rural and urban areas.”
In an Oct. 22 post on X, Garten also said he’s been in since the start.
“This is not a fight Republicans picked, but it’s at our doorstep, and I’m prepared to answer the call,” he said. “For decades, Democrat states have gerrymandered in the dark of the night. Yet those same Democrats fake outrage at the notion Indiana would redraw our maps to balance the scales. We can no longer sit idly by as our country is stolen from us.”
Republican Rep. Ed Clere, in District 72 including much of Floyd County, is against redistricting. Like Dant Chesser, he said state lawmakers have bigger things to worry about.
“We should be talking about any number of other things that matter a lot more to Hoosiers,” he said. “And affordability is certainly front and center.”
Clere also criticized the lack of transparency and opportunity for public input this round. He was in office during the redrawing of maps in 2011 and 2021, both following the 10-year Census count. He said even in 2021, when Census data was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were public hearings across the state for residents to weigh in before lawmakers considered the maps.
He said Tuesday that hasn’t happened this time. And people who spoke at the committee hearing this week did so only a day after seeing the proposed new districts.
“So legislators and members of the public only had 24 hours to review and become familiar with a very complicated and detailed piece of legislation, and it simply wasn't enough time,” he said.
Clere said any changes would also create a very short window for county election officials to prepare for the 2026 primary election. Jan. 7 is the first day for candidates to file.
The Indiana House considered amendments Thursday but failed to pass any. They’re scheduled to meet Friday morning to vote on the bill.
Other Southern Indiana lawmakers — Republican Reps. Zach Payne of District 66 and Karen Engleman of District 70 — did not respond to requests for comment.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
