The proposed maps essentially stayed the same as when they were released last week, with one minor amendment moving House districts in Fort Wayne to avoid splitting up an apartment complex.
Republicans will keep greater control of Indiana’s Legislature than merited by the number of votes they receive, according to a political analyst who on Thursday called the state’s proposed new election districts among the most skewed in the country.
The Indiana House elections committee opened two days of public hearings on the redistricting plan a little more than 24 hours after the new congressional and Indiana House maps were posted online.
Some Indiana House Republican incumbents could go head-to-head with their GOP colleagues next election cycle, based on shifts in the proposed redistricting maps.
Drafts of the state’s proposed new congressional and House district maps released Tuesday by Republicans aren’t likely to make a sizable changes in Indiana’s political landscape.
Other changes among Indiana’s nine congressional districts to account for population shifts don’t appear likely to shift the 7-2 control that Republicans now hold on those seats.
Republicans on Tuesday are set to release proposed new Indiana House and U.S. House maps that they’ve drawn behind closed doors.
Indiana Republicans will show next week just how far they’ll go in pushing their political control over redrawing the state’s congressional districts.
The process starts Sept. 14, with the House Republicans’ unveiling of the Congressional and Indiana House district map drafts online. The proposed Senate district maps will post online Sept. 21.
The fight over redrawing political maps is just ramping up in state legislatures and nonpartisan commissions around the country. But both Republicans and Democrats already are planning for major showdowns in the courts.
Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to begin raising money for a Senate race.
Lawmakers heard more than two hours of testimony Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse from citizens who spent most of their time asking for a fair redistricting process.
Supporters say the rule will provide more transparency when city councilors vote on projects that benefit campaign donors. Critics say the change will benefit councilors who can bankroll their own campaigns.
The hearings will be the first public steps by the Republican-dominated Legislature on the once-a-decade redrawing of election maps based on population shifts.
Former President Donald Trump has filed lawsuits against three of the country’s biggest tech companies, claiming he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored.
The Supreme Court decision affirmed state rights to set its own voting rules and could make it harder to challenge other voting limits put in place by Republican lawmakers following last year’s elections.
Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden, former president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., announced Thursday he was forming a committee for a Republican campaign for governor.
U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican, made her announcement just six months after being elected and less than a month after the Democratic Congressional Committee declared it will target her seat in 2022.
“The Committee to Elect Holli Sullivan has determined that it made an improper solicitation of campaign funds,” Sullivan’s campaign said in a written statement. “These public solicitations have been removed and all contributions have been returned.”
Crystal Neumann was chosen to fill what remains of Samantha DeLong’s term. DeLong, who was elected in 2019, announced earlier this month that she would be moving away from Fishers.
