Indiana GOP senators face threats to redistrict

Several lawmakers have seen their lives turned upside down amid Trump’s push.

- THOMAS BEAUMONT AND ISABELLA VOLMERT

ANNETTE Groos holds a sign at the Statehouse in Indianapolis in September.

Spencer Deery’s son was getting ready for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming his home by reporting a fake emergency.

Linda Rogers said there were threats at her home and the golf course her family has run for generations.

Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare that was emailed to local law enforcement.

The three are among about a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate who have seen their lives turned upside down while President Trump pushes to redraw the state’s congressional map to expand the party’s power in the 2026 midterm elections.

It’s a bewildering and frightening experience for lawmakers who see themselves as loyal party members and never imagined they would be doing their jobs under the shadow of violence that has darkened U.S. political life in recent years. Leising described it as “a very dangerous and intimidating process.”

Redistricting is normally done once a decade after a new national census. Trump wants to accelerate the process in hopes of protecting the Republicans’ thin majority in the U.S. House next year. His allies in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have already gone along with his plans for new political lines.

Now Trump's campaign faces its greatest test yet in a stubborn pocket of Midwestern conservatism. Although Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and the House of Representatives are on board, the proposal may fall short with senators, many of whom say they value their civic traditions and independence over what they fear would be short-term partisan gain.

“When you have the president of the United States and your governor sending signals, you want to listen to them,” said Rogers, who has not declared her position on the redistricting push. “But it doesn’t mean you'll compromise your values.”