Indiana GOP lawmakers defied Trump on redistricting. Now GOP voters may thwart his push for revenge

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Apr 26, 2026, 8:00 AM ET


Rockville, Indiana - Five months ago, Indiana Republican legislators withstood pressure from President Donald Trump and rejected his urgent political demands. Now there are signs here on the ground that GOP voters may be poised to do the same.

Trump and his allies are out for revenge in the Hoosier state’s May 5 primary after the Republican supermajority in the state Senate voted down his demand to redraw Indiana’s congressional map to help the GOP win two more seats in November’s midterm elections.

The president endorsed challengers to seven incumbent Republican state senators who voted against the redistricting measure. The outcome of those Senate primaries will test Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, as voters decide whether to give their party’s state lawmakers room to break with the president — or opt to oust those he sees as disloyal and damaging to his second-term agenda.

Across several political events in Indiana in recent days, a significant share of Republican voters said they are willing to break with Trump. At a recent candidate forum in Rockville, 75-year-old retiree Jack Butler said he’d long been a Trump supporter — but the redistricting fight changed his message to the president. “Now, it’s ‘leave us alone,’” he said of his opinion about Trump. “You go do your thing, that’s fine. But stay out of Hoosier politics.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/26/politics/indiana-redistricting-primaries-trump-revenge