For two hours on Saturday, Greg Goode, a Republican member of the Indiana Senate, sat on a tall wooden chair, listening as constituents told him they oppose a plan to redraw the state’s political map to send more Republicans to Congress.
No one spoke in favor of the idea. Mr. Goode said later that six of the roughly 200 people who showed up for the event, which he arranged, indicated support for the redistricting plan on a sign-up sheet.
As Republicans and Democrats across the country race to draw new maps outside the usual once-a-decade cycle, often with little intraparty debate or discussion with opponents, Saturday’s exchange stood out as a counterpoint. Here was a Republican lawmaker saying he was unsure how he would vote on a map sought by President Trump, and seeking feedback from a left-leaning crowd that spoke against drawing new maps and described broader fears about the country’s direction.
“A fascist government has decided that they’re going to tell all the way down to the smallest district who’s boss,” said Thomas Baer, 68, a Terre Haute resident who urged Mr. Goode to “say no to this blatant power grab.”
Several states have moved quickly to draw new maps, with only nominal resistance from members of the party in power. But passage of a new map advantageous to Republicans is not a certainty in Indiana, where the president and his allies have struggled for months to muster enough support. Legislators like Mr. Goode will decide what happens.
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