Sept. 14, 2021 Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders on Tuesday made public most of the redistricting maps that they plan to enact during a legislative process set to begin little more than 24 hours later. Above, at top: Proposed congressional district map. Below, from left: (1) Current congressional district map, (2) current Indiana House district map, […]
Category Archives: Featured News
REDISTRICTING IN INDIANA: Why racial justice requires fair maps
The following analysis was written by Alan Mills, a member of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation board of directors. America is changing. And Indiana, though a few steps behind, is changing, too. Newly released U.S. Census Bureau data shows that during the past 10 years, Indiana has become more diverse. In 2010, Hoosiers identifying themselves […]
A study in contrasts: The representatives versus the represented
The following report was written by veteran journalists Bill Theobald and Janet Williams for The Indiana Citizen. Pictured: Emmitt Riley III, associate professor of political science and Africana studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. Sept. 10, 2021 The face of Indiana is changing rapidly, less white, more Black, brown, and Asian. But whether the faces of […]
NEW DECADE, SAME PLAYBOOK: With Republicans’ hiring of national consultant, Indiana’s redistricting in 2021 is starting to look a lot like 2011.
Top row, from left: Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, Senate Elections Committee member Erin Houchin, Senate Elections Committee chairman Jon Ford. Second: Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, Senate Elections Committee member Eric Koch, House Elections Committee vice chair Alan Morrison. Third: Majority Caucus Chairman Gregory Steuerwald, House Elections Committee chairman Timothy Wesco, Senate Elections […]
THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED: A decade after Indiana’s 2011 redistricting, those on the inside still aren’t talking.
Continuing our coverage of this year’s redistricting process, the following report was written by veteran journalists Janet Williams and Bill Theobald for The Indiana Citizen. June 14, 2021 *** Jeb Bardon knew it was over for Democrats in Indiana a decade ago, as soon as he saw the new maps. Drafted behind closed doors by a small group of […]
2011 in a different light: Ex-lawmaker says Democrats ‘should shut up and eat what they served’ in 2001
June 21, 2021 One way of looking at Indiana’s 2011 redistricting is from the perspective of what’s happened since – a decade of Republican supermajorities in the General Assembly and a GOP lock on seven of the state’s nine congressional districts. But Dan Dumezich (above) sees it in a different light, looking back to what […]
EMPOWERED EXTREMES, LOWER TURNOUT: A look at how redistricting can make a difference
Continuing our coverage of this year’s redistricting process, the following report was written by Indiana journalist Janet Williams for The Indiana Citizen. May 14, 2021 The passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2015 presented Indiana with an interesting question: Did the actions of its state legislature really reflect the will of the governed? […]
WHAT’S THE PLAN? Legislative leaders share more specifics on the redistricting process ahead, but questions remain
Continuing our coverage of this year’s redistricting process, the following report was written by veteran journalists Janet Williams and Bill Theobald for The Indiana Citizen. April 29, 2021 Last week, after nearly four months in session, the Indiana General Assembly passed a new state budget and headed for the exits. But the lawmakers left the […]
REDISTRICTING IN 2021: Indiana’s civic health can be improved by drawing fair maps
March 28, 2021 Every 10 years in years ending in 1, an otherwise relatively obscure figure in American history — a legitimate “Founding Father”– becomes a household name. Elbridge Gerry — pronounced “Gary” — devoted his adult life to promoting democracy, culminating as James Madison’s second vice president for only one year, 1813-1814, because he […]
POINT: “Indiana is not gerrymandered … Gerrymandering is not in the eye of the beholder, but in the eye of the loser”
The Indiana Citizen is committed to providing a variety of points of view on the crucial issue of redistricting. The following column, written by Indianapolis Star opinion contributor Pete Seat (above) and originally published on Feb. 22, 2021, is reprinted with permission of the author and The Indianapolis Star. March 28, 2021 *** Indiana is […]