In September, we brought you an explainer on redistricting, gerrymandering and what to know about the pressure Indiana lawmakers are facing to redraw districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
In response to that story, we received several questions about redistricting. I did some research and spoke with a political science professor to bring you the answers.
First, the latest on the effort here
Gov. Mike Braun still has not called a special session for redistricting, something he earlier said he was considering holding in November. At a public event on Oct. 1, he said the topic was discussed by lawmakers daily and that it was “evolving.”
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Indy hosted a town hall at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church on the north side.
Have there been any polls to gauge how Indiana voters feel about redistricting?
In August, a left-leaning research firm conducted a poll of Indiana voters. More than half of the people who responded to the poll said they were against the mid-decade redistricting effort, with 43% saying they were “strongly” opposed.
A national survey commissioned by pro-democracy group Common Cause found that a majority of voters of both major parties who responded were against redistricting now.
But those polls might not tell the whole story, according to Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis.
“People are still trying to understand, would this be worth it? Would this be valuable?” Wilson said, noting the small sample sizes of those two surveys. Hoosiers also have not had a lot of time to learn about the current push, which appeared to ramp up in August.
If Indiana leaders decide to redistrict, it could be an influential factor in how Hoosiers vote for state lawmakers next year, Wilson said. All 100 seats in the Indiana House and 25 state Senate seats are up for reelection in 2026.
How much is redistricting expected to hurt voter turnout?
It really depends on how the lines are drawn. What we do know is that voters who are in less competitive districts are more likely to stay home on Election Day, according to Wilson.
In the 2022 midterm elections, all but one of Indiana’s congressional representatives won by a large margin. Only 37% of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot that year.
“Any time people see it as a foregone conclusion, you’re depressing voter turnout,” Wilson said.
Are Indiana lawmakers being threatened by the Trump administration?
Gov. Mike Braun has said he expects Indiana to face “consequences” for failing to redistrict. He later clarified that he had not received any explicit threats from the president, but that he would want to maintain the good relationship Indiana has with Trump’s administration.
An article published in August by Politico cited unnamed sources who implied that Indiana lawmakers might face a primary challenge if they oppose redistricting. And the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk tweeted in August that Indiana lawmakers should face primary challenges if they resist.
An Indiana group has filed a public records request seeking information on any programs or funding that the Trump administration may have threatened to withhold.
How do we wrangle redistricting out of the legislature into a nonpartisan process?
Any citizen-led effort to create a nonpartisan redistricting process here faces a steep uphill battle, according to Wilson. Unlike other states, Indiana does not have any way for voters to force a change in the law. So any changes to our redistricting process would have to come from state lawmakers making changes to state law and the constitution.
“It’s going to be really hard to do, because you’re asking the people who currently benefit from the process to change the process in a way that’s going to make it harder for them,” Wilson said.
Indiana Republicans currently have a supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly, so it’d be up to them to support changes.
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Emily Hopkins is a Mirror Indy reporter focused on data and accountability. You can reach them on phone or Signal at 317-790-5268 or by email at emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis or on Bluesky @emilyhopkins.bsky.social.
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