INDIANAPOLIS -- In a striking 19-31 vote, the Indiana State Senate has rejected a mid-decade redistricting plan that had consumed state politics for months and sparked deep divisions within the GOP.
The vote ends a bitter fight over control of Indiana's congressional map -- a battle marked by intense lobbying, public pressure, and even violent threats against lawmakers. The defeat is likely to be viewed by President Trump and his allies as a major rebuke to their push for a guaranteed Republican sweep in Indiana's U.S. House delegation.
Political groups backing the change had vowed to spend heavily to unseat Republicans who opposed the plan, setting up what could now become a fierce and costly primary season.
Had the bill passed, Indiana would have joined a small group of states that redrew maps mid-cycle for political advantage -- a move that could have erased the state's two Democratic congressional seats and split the city Indianapolis among multiple districts.
Until today's vote, the outcome was uncertain, with lawmakers publicly divided. The political fallout from this decision is expected to ripple across Indiana and the nation.