WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:49 — 9.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Earlier this month, Indiana lawmakers proposed a mid-cycle redistricting map. This proposal caused a spectrum of reactions from members of the state government as well as citizens. Although it is not unconstitutional, there are a tremendous number of people with varying levels of power who oppose this mid-cycle redistricting.
Redistricting occurs every ten years to redraw congressional districts in order to represent the constituents of that district. One of the largest concerns from those in opposition of this proposal, is that there will not be fair or accurate representation of the citizens in the districts.
Indiana had previously voted “No” towards this proposal, but state legislation continues to pursue this agenda. If this mid-cycle redistricting does occur, then some Democratic leaders will be voted out, as the assumed goal of the redrawing of districts is to ensure more congressional seats for the Republicans ahead of the mid-term elections.
According to a report from POLITICO, “if state lawmakers approve the map, Indiana would become the fourth GOP-led state to redraw ahead of the midterms”.
Part of this intended proposal would be to divide Indianapolis into four districts. These would be distributed amongst the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th districts.
Democratic leaders and advocacy organizations believe that the emphasis on this redistricting stems from political pressure from Washington D.C.
WFHB News interviewed Sydney Zulich who serves District 6 on the Bloomington City Council and Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause. Vaughn shares why she believes this mid-cycle redistricting is occurring.
“Well, it’s because President Trump has asked for it. You know, he’s been very clear. He wants two more Republican congressional seats out of Indiana. So this summer, JD Vance has come to Indiana twice to try to convince our lawmakers to do it. The President has been on Zoom calls and personal calls with legislators trying to make this happen. So clearly, nobody in Indiana has asked for this, but it’s happening because the President of the United States is feeling vulnerable going into the 2026 midterm elections. He wants to shore up the prospects that his party will keep control of Congress. So that’s why it’s happening. This is clearly a bunch of out of staters wanting to influence Indiana’s congressional districts,” she said.
Not only have the pressures to vote in favor of the proposal been implied, they have grown to threaten those in opposition. There have been over seven Senators who have been the targets of threats. These pressures are within their own political party as well. Republican Senator Jean Leising has been the most recent, as she received a pipe bomb threat at her home.
Sydney Zulich reacts to this.
“I mean, it’s terrifying, even just as a lower level elected official, you never know what is going to set someone off to the point of violence. And just to be clear, that is something that our president has continued to feed, because people are very, very easy to manipulate when you can keep them,” Zulich said.
Julia Vaughn also shares how this will impact representation for Hoosiers across the state.
“You know, redistricting is like a balloon. If you squeeze it in the middle, the air comes out the top and the bottom. And so, you know, when you start redrawing district lines, it has a ripple effect throughout the entire state. So, you know, certainly people in Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis will see the biggest impact,” Vaughn said. “It’s setting up the situation where a lot of people are going to feel like they don’t have a voice in the United States House of Representatives. And I think one of the natural things that will flow out of that is we’ll see people not wanting to vote because they think it doesn’t make a difference that, you know, my voice doesn’t matter. My representative doesn’t live in the same county that I do…I think we have a very good opportunity to stop this in the Senate, and so that’s what my organization is working to do.”
Sydney Zulich explains how you can address your concerns.
“Well, call your representatives. If you live in Monroe County, your representatives if you don’t live in Bloomington proper, it is likely that your representatives are one, a Republican two, either Dave Hall, Peggy Mayfield or Bob Heaton. And I just want every single resident of Monroe County to know if they do not vote in favor of the gerrymandering. It is not because they don’t believe in it. It is because someone told them that they could vote against it to continue to get reelected. That’s just the cold truth. So like, these are not people who make decisions on behalf of their constituents. These are people who make decisions based on what they are told they can and can’t do. That is not democracy. That’s oligarchy. To answer your question about what citizens and residents can do, call vote, and if you are not happy with your representative, get 20 of your friends and join a campaign and get them fired because the type of leadership and the lack of integrity that we are currently seeing from our elected officials, and it’s as local as it gets, unacceptable,” she said.
Before the conclusion of her interview, Sydney Zulich says one final message to the WFHB audience.
“I will say, for anyone who is upset, make sure that you’re registered to vote. Make sure that you know where to vote, make sure that you know how to vote and what IDs that you need, and just as much research as you can. I’m not going to tell anyone who to vote for, but do the research like just read, just go on the candidates campaign sites. Is this someone that I think that I would share values with, is this someone that I genuinely trust enough to be enough of a brawler to go fight for me in this some of the scariest moments of our life. And if you don’t think that your elected official, deep down in their soul, has the fire for the fight, don’t vote for them,” Zulich said.
On December 8th, the Indiana House was joined by the Senate to address the topic of redistricting. This meeting will lead to the final decision regarding the redrawing of districts for Indiana.
