It is unclear if Donald Trump believes in the now generally accepted constitutional concept of one person, one vote. What is clear, however, is he really doesn't believe in the equal distribution of voters in congressional districts. Faced with a catastrophic loss in next year's election the President wants to make sure republican voters hold solid majorities in as many congressional districts as possible. To that end he is actively pushing for his state level cultists to redraw the districts five years earlier than normal. He sees the polls, or at least his people do. In order to help the GOP remain in control of at least the House of Representatives it doesn't matter how geographically twisted and bizarre the districts become. All that matters is democrats are separated into unconnected political ghettos while GOP loyalists become the majorities.
This method of what amounts to pre-election rigging was humming along perfectly until this week. Then, like the voyage of the, "unsinkable," Titanic, things went suddenly and horribly wrong.
The current Indiana House delegation is seven republicans and two democrats. Trump's plan was to, let's say, rearrange, the district map in order to give the GOP a better than 50-50 shot to pick up those democratic seats next fall. The path for this creative political deck stacking went through the Indiana state senate chamber, where republicans hold 40 of the 50 seats.
That's where the grand scheme went sideways.
Unlike Texas and other locales, republican Senators in Indiana didn't ask how high when the Trump administration told them to jump. Signs of trouble appeared early on as a surprising number of legislators seemed reluctant to go along with the plan. Others objected to it outright, based on their conservative principles. Donald Trump and his pals, never known for their negotiating skills, reacted as you might expect--with all the subtlety of Al Capone's Chicago Southside Gang. After a vote to redistrict the state according to Donald ended up in a tie all manner of threats began to pour in.
Trump directed a social media post at Indiana Senate president pro tempore, Rodric Bray personally. It read, "Anyone that votes against Redistricting and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C. will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring. Rod Bray and his friends won't be in Politics for long and I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party and our Country again."
Others in the senate began to receive bomb threats and swatting attacks at their homes. Then, to remove any lingering doubt about the administration's intentions, the ultra-right Heritage Foundation posted a dark warning on social media. "President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders," it began. " If the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame."
Or, to paraphrase a line from a long-gone TV show, "Vote for Donnie and nobody gets hurt."
On Monday, republican Indiana Senator spoke on the chamber floor, saying in part, "I fear for this institution, I fear for the state of Indiana, and I fear for all states if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm." On Thursday, republican Senator, Spencer Deery said, "I, like a supermajority of you do not want to see another democrat Speaker of the House. But that isn't for me to decide and that isn't for anyone in this body to decide either. Living in a free Constitutional republic means we empower voters to make those decisions."
Later, the final vote was 19 yeas and 31 nays. That's right. Even if the 10 democrats in the Indiana Senate had not voted, the measure would have still failed 21 to 19.
The defeat means that for the first time since the Trump madness gained complete control over the party of Lincoln a significant group of state politicians found not just their courage, but maybe their souls. They recognized a blatant autocratic power grab and in response told the crazy old bastard to go fuck himself.
No, this isn't the beginning of the end for Donald Trump and his wretched political ambitions. (Redistricting plans are going full speed ahead in Missouri and North Carolina.) However, to quote Winston Churchill, it is, "...perhaps the end of the beginning."
We can only hope.
12-12-25
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