Braun will wait to call special session on pro-GOP redistricting
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Gov. Mike Braun says he won't call a special session until Statehouse leaders decide if they want to move forward with redrawing Indiana's congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
The big picture: Indiana is one of several Republican-controlled states considering mid-cycle redistricting at the behest of the Trump administration.
- Vice President JD Vance visited with Braun and legislative leaders last week and Braun confirmed to reporters that redistricting was "the main topic."
What they're saying: "The legislative leaders are checking with their caucuses to see if they're interested," Braun told reporters Tuesday. "I think it's going to be a methodical process and I think each leader is going to take his time on getting to that point where they say what they want to do."
Between the lines: Braun can't force lawmakers to act. He can call the special session, but lawmakers can gavel in and out without taking action if they don't have the appetite to change the state's maps.
- There isn't much to gain in Indiana — Republicans could likely pick up one seat at best.
The intrigue: Braun says it'll also depend on whether maps are redrawn in Texas, where House Democrats have fled the state, stalling redistricting attempts in the state that kicked off the nationwide fight.
Reality check: Democrats in Indiana won't follow in the footsteps of their Texas peers.
- Being in the superminority, Indiana Democrats don't have the numbers to break the quorum; Republicans could come into a special session and pass new maps without a single Democrat being present.
- "Maybe that's something that voters will keep in mind when they decide who they're going to support in the upcoming elections," State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said to reporters during a recent press conference.
- For now, Pierce said, Democrats will make the public aware of what's going on in hopes that public pushback will stop an effort to gerrymander Indiana's congressional maps.
What we're watching: Indiana and Texas House Democrats are holding a joint press conference Wednesday in Chicago to "explain the serious danger mid-term redistricting plans pose to the legitimacy of our democracy," according to an advisory.