New redistricting map circulating among some Indiana Republicans would change districts

INDIANAPOLIS — A redesigned redistricting map, that attempts to eliminate Indiana’s two Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, is circulating among some Republican lawmakers after a trip to Washington, D.C. last month.

A member of the Indiana Republican Party provided FOX59/CBS4

with this map, which did not come from Indiana state Republican leadership. The map, which Democrats claim was created without Hoosier input, was reportedly shared with several Republicans from the Indiana House of Representatives over the weekend.

The tentative map would split Marion County into three sectors, between the representatives for the sixth district, the seventh district and the eighth district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, the majority of Marion County is in the seventh district, represented by U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Ind.

The new map would also expand the state’s first district, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., into counties currently represented in the second district and the fourth district.

This comes after federal officials have expressed interest in ousting the state’s two Democratic congressional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, something they believe would help give Republicans an easier path to a majority.

Vice President J.D. Vance came to Indiana in early August to discuss the possibility of redistricting in a closed-door meeting with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and other state Republicans, according to previous reports.

Several GOP lawmakers from the state of Indiana also traveled to Indiana in late August to talk about several topics, including redistricting. Some Republicans have expressed support for the efforts, while others said that they are a “hard no” to redraw the electoral maps in the state mid-decade.

Indiana Democrats have been vocal about their opposition to these efforts, with Indiana State Rep. Maureen Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, calling the efforts a “blatant attempt to cheat Hoosiers out of fair representation.”

Carson, one of the two Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who represent Indiana, said the efforts are “unethical” and attempt to silence Democratic votes in the state of Indiana.

According to previous reports, Braun would have to call a special session of the Indiana General Assembly to move forward with redistricting efforts. As of this story’s publication, it is not clear if state Republican leaders would move forward with this specific map.

In a statement from the Indiana Democratic Party on social media, officials claim that the map was drawn by a GOP political consultant and posted “weeks ago.”

“This map wasn’t drawn by Hoosiers, lacks input from voters, splits communities of interest and is designed to make elections in our state as uncompetitive as possible,” the statement read.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.