Vice President JD Vance is being sent to Indiana to try to convince the state’s legislative leaders to redraw its congressional map in the latest gerrymandering battle.
Vance will arrive in the Hoosier state on Thursday for an RNC fundraiser in Indianapolis and also will meet with Gov. Mike Braun, House Speaker Todd Huston, and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, where the topic of trying to give the GOP any advantage it can ahead of the 2026 midterms is expected to come up, the Indianapolis Star reports.
Both Vance and Braun are being coy about what the Republicans plan to discuss during their meeting. A spokesperson for Vance told the Daily Beast that the vice president will meet with Braun and “other state officials to discuss a variety of issues.”
The governor told Indiana’s statehouse the issue of redrawing the congressional map is “exploratory” but there have been “no commitments made.”
Republicans currently control seven of Indiana’s nine U.S. House seats, meaning any redrawing of the map could potentially give the party two extra seats.
The GOP is looking into adding any seats where it can amid rumblings that it could suffer major losses and control of the House in the midterms due to backlash to President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill and the ongoing saga surrounding his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Texas Republicans are currently trying to game the system by winning five additional seats next November, but their redistricting efforts are being thwarted by Democrats fleeing the state and refusing to take part in any legislative sessions.
Democrats in California and New York are also plotting to wipe out GOP districts in the deep blue states to counteract gerrymandering efforts in Texas.
The Trump administration is reportedly hopeful that it can convince Indiana officials to change the state’s congressional map and is eyeing up other states.
“I certainly think the vice president and the president and the people around both of them can be quite persuasive,” a Republican close to the White House told Politico’s Playbook.
“Ohio has to redistrict, so I expect to see that kind of unfold in the late fall. And Missouri, there’s certainly rumors of it there. Things are just kind of percolating, and we shall see.”
Braun has been skeptical about redrawing the state’s congressional maps outside of the usual 10-year census cycle, saying the current districts look “fairly reasonable,” reports Axios. Braun would also have to call a special session devoted just to redistricting for the plan to be carried out.
Democratic state Rep. Matt Pierce mocked Trump and Vance for being “so desperate that they are scraping for every seat they can get through gerrymandering.”
“Most shocking of all, President Trump and the Congressional Republicans are so arrogant that they don’t feel any need to hide their political power grab,” Pierce said in a statement. “They are up front about the fact that they are willing to cheat to win the midterm elections.”
The White House declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Beast.
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