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# Analysis: GOP Kicked Out Indiana Republicans Who Saved Them from Further Embarrassment
- URL: https://ivn.us/analysis-gop-kicked-out-indiana-republicans-who-saved-them-from-further-embarrassment/
- Published: 2026-11-05T21:30:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T23:13:39.000Z
- Description: Republican leaders punished 21 Indiana state senators for blocking a congressional map that could have backfired spectacularly on the GOP. Six of them lost their jobs in Trump-endorsed primary challenges.
- Author: Shawn Griffiths
- Tags: Gerrymandering, Midterms, Analysis, Election Reform

The best description of what happened on Election Night wasn’t a blue wave. It wasn’t a blue tsunami. It was a bloodbath for the Republican Party across the US. However, new analysis suggests things could have been much worse. 

And, it would have been the fault of GOP leaders if 21 state senators hadn’t stood their ground and [blocked a new congressional map back in December](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/indiana-republicans-redistricting-vote-trump-00687714?ref=ivn.us). 

> This is insane! Here is a map of yesterday’s Indiana House results if they were drawn under the attempted Republican gerrymander map from last Fall. Thank you to [@Vulst3](https://x.com/Vulst3?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ivn.us) for breaking down the data to make this map. The gerrymander could’ve netted us a 9-0 or 8-1 map potentially! [pic.twitter.com/nAli6x50CS](https://t.co/nAli6x50CS?ref=ivn.us)
> 
> — Indianapolis Councilor Nick Roberts (@nickroberts317) [November 5, 2026](https://x.com/nickroberts317/status/2118175025086038348?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ivn.us)

*Update: Roberts posted another breakdown today with data from Decision Desk HQ. The article has been updated to include both analyses:*

> ANOTHER INSANE MAP: Beau Bayh actually won all 9 proposed Republican gerrymandered districts in the GOP proposed map (and none were even particularly close.) The numbers here are even better than the other map, which used the House race data.  
>  
> Thanks to [@jakemarks42](https://x.com/jakemarks42?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ivn.us) for the data [pic.twitter.com/NMMFFW1m8F](https://t.co/NMMFFW1m8F?ref=ivn.us)
> 
> — Indianapolis Councilor Nick Roberts (@nickroberts317) [November 5, 2026](https://x.com/nickroberts317/status/2118456268130267603?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ivn.us)

The above maps are making their rounds on X. They suggest—based on Indiana's 2026 congressional election results—that the proposed gerrymander would have backfired. 

Not just backfired, but cost Republicans most if not all of their seats.

Democrats managed to flip a seat in this election, taking 3 out of 9 total. J.D. Ford defeated Republican US Rep. Victoria Spartz in Indiana's 5th District, which President Trump carried by approximately 17 percentage points in 2024.

The GOP’s redistricting plan was meant to deliver a 9-0 sweep using 2024 voting patterns. And if those patterns held up, it might have, but as other states showed, the biggest mistake was assuming the electorate would be the same this year.

It wasn’t. Independent preferences shifted. Latino voters shifted. The end result was that many states that tried to rig their maps to give the party in power more seats implemented a “dummymander” instead.

If the above analyses are correct, thinning the Republican advantage in some districts Trump carried by double digits by spreading out Indianapolis Democrats in hopes of watering down their vote would have had the exact opposite effect.

Instead of 9-0 Republican, it could have been 9-0 Democratic.

This is all hypothetical, but it raises the possibility that 21 Republican state senators who defied party leaders and blocked the map may have done their party a favor. 

And yet, Republican leaders, including Trump, demanded their heads for it.

Before the final vote in December, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Anybody 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."

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/11/image-ba6246f5-6671-4693-be9f-fc231cf830b0.jpg)](https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/34206?ref=ivn.us)

Further, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun tweeted after the vote that these decisions come with consequences:

> I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump. Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will…
> 
> — Governor Mike Braun (@GovBraun) [December 11, 2025](https://x.com/GovBraun/status/1999234066680512867?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ivn.us)

Of the 21 Republican state senators who voted against the redistricting effort, 6 were primaried out on May 5\. Of the 6, 5 were defeated by a primary challenger explicitly endorsed by Trump.

### **The six Republican senators who lost their primaries**

| **Republican incumbent** | **Defeated by**  |
| ------------------------ | ---------------- |
| Travis Holdman           | Blake Fiechter   |
| Jim Buck                 | Tracey Powell    |
| Linda Rogers             | Brian Schmutzler |
| Dan Dernulc              | Trevor De Vries  |
| Rick Niemeyer            | Jay Starkey      |
| Greg Walker              | Michelle Davis   |

This highlights how party primaries are often weaponized by party leaders to keep their members in line, and if anyone defies them, that elected official or candidate will be the target of a funded, organized, and motivated campaign.

It is nothing new to US politics. However, it has become more visible to the public in recent years as party leaders openly threaten their members over any sign of revolt.

Their motivations don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if they act to do what is good for voters or even the party. Defiance is punished using low-turnout taxpayer-funded contests, and in this case, it was treated as an existential threat to Trump himself.

“You have a state full of MAGA Republicans run by Republican MAGA haters,” said Trump 2024 campaign manager Chris LaCivita.

> “If you don’t defend a political movement from those that stand in the way — then it’s not a movement at all — a handful of politicians in Indiana will now know what standing in the way really means.”

Turns out, the 2026 elections were a massive rebuke against Trump and his MAGA movement across the US, even in Indiana.

While 21 Republican state senators may have not known it at the time, they may have prevented a political “bloodbath” from being even worse. And a quarter of them were ousted by their party for it.