Indiana lawmakers sent a message

The answer was 33.

We asked the question in late October.

How many of our Indiana legislators would stand strong?

This month, we found out.

A total of 33 Republicans — 21 in the Indiana Senate and a dozen in the House — voted against a bill that would have redrawn the state’s congressional districts. The Senate vote ended up 31-19, with all 10 Democrats also opposing the effort.

Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray had repeatedly said the votes were not there to pass redistricting. He tried to avoid going into session even after Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called legislators back to Indianapolis.

But there was pressure coming not only from Braun, but directly from the White House, as President Donald Trump is trying to protect his party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. So the session was called.

The Indiana House of Representatives passed the bill, which would have carved up Indianapolis into districts stretching from the Ohio River to the Kankakee River and reaching the eastern and western state borders.

The Indiana Senate spent four days hearing testimony and debating the legislation, which also would have put Lake County into the same district as Wabash County. Senators who had never been interested in taking part in this power play stood strong and defeated the bill.

We thank State Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), whose district includes Jay and Blackford counties, for standing up against this blatant power grab. We also thank State Rep. Matt Lehman (R-Berne), who was one of the 12 Republicans who voted against the bill in the House.

This issue had little, really nothing, to do with Indiana.

It was all a national power struggle.

Trump got the ball rolling when he pushed Texas to redistrict in favor of the GOP, with Missouri and North Carolina not far behind. California voters approved Proposition 50, a ballot issue to redraw the state’s congressional districts in Democrats’ favor.

The Hoosier State was simply the next battlefield where Trump and his cronies thought they could gain some ground.

Ultimately, Holdman, Lehman and 31 others rightly decided that their responsibility is to the people they serve and not to protecting their own power or that of the president.

Mid-decade redistricting is a slippery slope. It’s a path toward redrawing districts before every election to allow the party in power to try to protect that power.

Such a system would not be good for anyone and would only lead to greater polarization in our political system.

Speaking truth to power is never easy. We are proud of those who did it.

Their votes sent an important message: Indiana will not be pushed around. — R.C.