INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana advocacy groups delivered more than 10,000 additional signatures to the Indiana Statehouse opposing efforts to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, bringing the total to 20,000 signatures from across all 92 counties.
WATCH: Common Cause Indiana on Redistricting
The delivery comes as President Trump continues pushing Indiana lawmakers to redraw congressional boundaries to give Republicans an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.
Organizations, including Indiana Conservation Voters, gathered signatures from every county in the state, with a heat map showing the distribution of opposition across Indiana.
"They report to Hoosiers. They don't report to the federal government, JD Vance or any of these people," said Megan Robertson of Indiana Conservation Voters. "They report to Hoosiers & Hoosiers have made it abundantly clear they don't want to see this happen. They ought to get back to work on the issues impacting folks' everyday life. Folks are struggling right now."
Governor Mike Braun addressed redistricting during a visit to the Caterpillar Large Engine Center in Lafayette, where he toured the facility's $725 million expansion on Tuesday.
"My key was to make sure there was going to be buy-in broadly throughout the legislature," Braun said. "You can see the White House has been in a few times to try to make their case. I think we are going to get there."
WRTV confirmed with the spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray that President Trump spoke with Senate Republicans on Friday by phone to discuss redistricting.
Opponents believe the fact that a special session hasn't been called yet signals lawmakers' reluctance to proceed.
"We are here to ask the governor and leaders of the general assembly to stop this tug of war between Hoosiers and insiders in Washington, D.C. who want us to break the rules and draw maps mid-cycle," said Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause Indiana.
Linda Hanson of the League of Women Voters of Indiana noted the current congressional delegation doesn't reflect statewide voting patterns.
"The maps were drawn following the 2020 census. We got two democrats and seven republicans in our congressional delegation," Hanson said. "Our statewide races have typically and most recently been 58% republican and 42% democrat. That is not what our congressional delegation looks like, and any effort to reduce the number of democrats and increase the number of republicans, which is what this redistricting mid-cycle would attempt to do, is a political opportunist ploy. This is not going to be responding to the needs of Hoosiers."
