12/12/2025, 06:2712/12/2025, 06:27
Despite strong pressure from US President Donald Trump, the Republican-dominated Senate in the state of Indiana rejected redistricting in favor of the conservative party. With a vote of 31 to 19, the Senate voted against a corresponding bill from the House of Representatives, with which the Republicans could probably have secured more seats in the House of Representatives in Washington in future elections.
Republican Senator Rodric Bray.Image: keystone
Trump reacted with disappointment: the redrawing of electoral districts had worked in other states, but not in Indiana, he complained at an appointment in the White House shortly after the vote.
The president had strongly supported the politically controversial project and threatened several Republican senators publicly – and by name – that he would support opposing candidates in the next primaries if they did not vote in his favor. Indiana’s Republican governor, Mike Braun, wrote on
The controversial practice of “gerrymandering”
In other states such as Texas and North Carolina, Republicans bowed to the president’s will and approved a new plan. In this way, the Republicans want to strengthen their position in the House of Representatives. They currently have narrow majorities in both chambers of the US Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives. In November 2026, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be reassigned in the so-called midterms.
When electoral districts are specifically tailored – known as “gerrymandering” in the USA – their boundaries are drawn in such a way that one party concentrates many of its own votes and fragments those of the opposing side. Both parties use this tactic to systematically gain advantages in elections. Under Trump’s administration, however, the dispute over this approach has intensified again. (dab/sda/dpa)