5 things to know about Tuesday's election results: Vivek, Ohio and Indiana
1. Most opponents of Indiana redistricting lose their primaries
The U.S. is in a mid-decade redistricting battle that began with Texas redrawing five Democrat-held congressional districts to make them more favorable to Republicans. California voters responded by approving a map that made five Republican-held congressional districts more favorable to Democrats. In Utah, a court ruling ordered the creation of a new congressional district more favorable to Democrats.
Throughout the past year, additional redistricting took place in Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, with those states implementing new congressional maps designed to give Republicans 3-4 additional seats. Most recently, Virginia voters narrowly approved a map that would make four Republican-held congressional districts more favorable to Democrats, while Florida just implemented a new congressional map that would make four Democrat-held districts more favorable to Republicans.
Additional redistricting is expected following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which ruled that Louisiana’s current congressional map consisting of two majority-black congressional districts held by Democrats and four majority-white congressional districts represented by Republicans was unconstitutional. Several southern states that have majority-black districts are expected to draw new maps, including Alabama and Louisiana.
One state where attempts to draw new congressional districts did not pan out was Indiana. While the Republican-controlled Indiana House of Representatives passed new congressional districts in a 57-41 vote late last year, the map designed to eliminate the two remaining Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation failed 19-31 in the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate.
President Donald Trump endorsed primary challengers to seven senators who voted against the new maps: Jim Buck, Dan Dernulc, Spencer Deery, Greg Goode, Travis Holdman, Linda Rogers and Greg Walker. Unofficial results show all but Goode have lost renomination to Trump-endorsed opponents with Deery holding onto a lead of just three votes.
An eighth redistricting opponent in the Indiana Senate, Eric Bassler, opted not to run for re-election and was replaced by a Trump-backed opponent. The impending replacement of at least six and potentially seven redistricting opponents with redistricting proponents makes it more likely that Indiana will implement a new congressional map ahead of the 2028 election.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
