Sen. Jim Banks predicts Trump’s redistricting foes face tough primary cycle in Indiana
Sen. Jim Banks warned Sunday that Indiana Republicans who thwarted President Trump’s push for a new redistricting map will pay for it in the spring GOP primary.
Indiana’s state Senate Republicans decided to keep the map the Legislature approved after the 2020 census, brushing off Trump’s pressure campaign. They made it clear they didn’t appreciate the heavy-handed tactics by Mr. Trump and his allies.
“There will be a lot of primaries,” Mr. Banks, an Indiana Republican who supported redistricting, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’ll just tell you this: Donald Trump remains the most popular Republican in the state of Indiana.”
“You don’t want to be on the other side of Donald Trump,” he added.
Knowing that the sitting president’s party usually suffers setbacks in the midterm elections, Mr. Trump has tried to tilt the math in his party’s favor.
He has been pressing red states to redraw their congressional lines in ways that could help Republicans protect their slim House majority in next year’s midterm elections. States including Texas, North Carolina and Missouri have revised maps that favor the GOP.
SEE ALSO: GOP Sen. Rand Paul warns the Trump-led redistricting battle could fuel ‘more violence’
Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing back in states such as California, Virginia and Illinois, raising the possibility that the nationwide fight over redistricting could end in a stalemate — or without enough movement to decide who controls the U.S. House.
In Indiana, Mr. Trump sought a map that would lock Republicans into all nine congressional seats by slicing up the two Democratic districts.
The state House went along, but the state Senate balked — voting 19-31 against the plan despite intense pressure. It was a high-profile — and rare — public blow against Mr. Trump, who has a track record of getting his way with Republicans.
Now, Mr. Trump and outside groups are doubling down, promising to target the lawmakers who defied him.
Still, state Senate leader Rodric Bray and others who opposed the effort won’t be on the ballot this cycle, but others will.
Mr. Banks knows firsthand how much Mr. Trump’s support matters: He said the former president’s endorsement cleared the field for him in 2024.
“I’m the senator today largely because of that endorsement,” Mr. Banks said.
