Serve the people, stand up to power

How many of our Indiana legislators will stand strong?

We don’t know. But we’re going to find out.

For months, President Donald Trump and other Republicans at the federal level have been pushing some state legislatures, including Indiana’s, to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 election cycle. This is an effort to preserve the GOP’s narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The first such redistricting took place in Republican-leaning Texas. Missouri and North Carolina followed suit.

Now, Democrat-leaning California has joined them with Proposition 50, a ballot issue to redraw Congressional districts.

To be clear, all of this is ridiculous, regardless of party.

Redistricting is a process we go through every 10 years, after the census is completed. It’s done that way to ensure voter representation and to make adjustments based on population shifts.

It should not be done in an attempt to hold on to power.

We were thrilled on Oct. 22 when Molly Swigart, spokeswoman for the Indiana Senate Republican caucus, put out a statement.

“The votes aren’t there for redistricting,” she said.

Nonetheless, five days later Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called for a special session to handle redistricting and some tax issues.

By the end of that same day, four more Republicans, including State Sen. Scott Alexander, who represents Randolph and Delaware counties, issued statements supporting redistricting.

“In light of recent events, including the federal government shutdown, and after much thought and consideration, I have decided I will be supporting efforts to redistrict Indiana’s congressional districts,” Alexander said.

This week, we reached out to other state legislators who represent the voters in our coverage area.

J.D. Prescott, who in August said he opposed redistricting, now says he will support it, provided the maps are fair. He cited other states setting a precedent and said that counting people living in the country illegally gave some states more representation than they should have received. (The U.S. Census counts all residents — citizens and non-citizens — living in the country at the time of the census, according to census.gov. That is not new.)

To say we’re disappointed in these stances from Prescott and Alexander is an understatement.

At the same time, we are hopeful that those who have not articulated a clear stance on the issue will come down against redistricting.

State Rep. Matt Lehman (R-Berne) and State Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), who did not respond to our question, could be particularly important in this discussion because of their length of service and leadership roles in the Indiana Statehouse. Both are level-headed and well-respected.

Those qualities give us a glimmer of hope.

This isn’t about Republican and Democrat, red and blue, conservative and liberal. This is about integrity.

Sometimes in life, one must stand up and do the right thing.

Sometimes it’s difficult.

That’s especially true when there is pressure.

It’s even more difficult when that pressure is coming from the president.

Those are the times when it is even more important to stand strong. Those are the moments that test whether our principles are real or easily bent when it truly matters.

Beyond everything above, it seems especially callous for national elected officials to be pushing redistricting and state legislators to be considering it when we are in the midst of a month-long federal government shutdown that is affecting everyday Americans, including Hoosiers. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as food stamps, are projected to run out today.

The juxtaposition, though, is poignant.

State-level politicians have an important choice to make.

Are they in office to protect their power, and that of the president?

Or are they there to serve the people?

We hope they choose the latter. — R.C.