By Marilyn Odendahl and Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
December 12, 2025
Speaking to NewsNation shortly after the Indiana Senate squashed the redistricting effort, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who was an early and pugnacious supporter of redrawing the state’s congressional district map, continued to criticize the Republican lawmakers.
“For years, the Senate has been known as the place where conservative bills from the Indiana House go to die,” Beckwith, a Republican, said during the interview on NewsNation on Thursday. “So, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a weak Senate. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen something like this happen, where conservatives are just shaking their head saying, ‘What is happening to the Senate?’ Now it’s just on national display.”
Beckwith appeared to grow increasingly frustrated as Republican legislators wrangled with redistricting and did not immediately approve a new map shortly after Vice President JD Vance first visited the Statehouse in August. The lieutenant governor’s anger surfaced during the Senate debate on Thursday, as he got into heated exchanges with two disruptive members of the public. At the end of the day, Beckwith was calling for Republican senators who voted against the bill to be primaried.
During the four months between Vance’s visit and the start of the early session, Beckwith focused his ire on the Senate, the legislative body over which he presides.
On Aug. 7, the day Vance sat down with Gov. Mike Braun and Republican legislative leaders, Beckwith championed reconfiguring the state’s congressional map in favor of Republicans candidates to avert a feared blue wave in the 2026 mid-term election. He posted on social media his support for President Donald Trump’s “mission to expand the conservative majority in Congress” and expressed confidence that the Hoosier State would redistrict ahead of next year’s election.
“Indiana is proud to play a key role in shaping a stronger, freer future for our nation and as Lt Governor I fully support this effort!” Beckwith posted in August.
However, as voter-advocacy groups and individuals mounted a strong and sustained opposition to redistricting, the Republican caucus in the Senate struggled to get the necessary votes to pass a new map. Beckwith called on the upper chamber to “get this done now.”
“The people of Indiana did not elect a Republican supermajority so our Senate could cower, compromise, or collapse at the very moment courage is required,” Beckwith said in a statement on Oct. 22 that he also posted to social media.
After 21 Republican senators joined Democrats on Thursday in a 31-to-19 vote to defeat House Bill 1032, the redistricting legislation, Beckwith posted a statement to social media, calling the senators “spineless.”
Beckwith had potentially been in a pivotal position when Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, and House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, announced the Indiana General Assembly would be reconvening in December to consider redistricting. If the vote count in the Senate Republican caucus had gotten close, the lieutenant governor might have been able to cast the deciding ballot for the new map.
The Senate session on Thursday was tense and Beckwith appeared somber throughout, as he stood at the rostrum and presided over the proceedings. When Republican senators rose to speak in favor of redrawing the congressional districts, Beckwith seemed to be paying attention, but as Democratic lawmakers voiced opposition, he talked to staff and appeared to be looking at his cellphone.
Beckwith also got into verbal altercations with two individuals seated in the chamber gallery who had disrupted the proceedings. The unidentified woman and man shouted retorts, while Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, spoke in support of redistricting. Immediately, Beckwith banged his gavel and told the protesters, “Get out.”
Brown reiterated the main argument for redistricting by saying Indiana had to change its map and send more Republicans to Congress in order to prevent Democrats from gaining the majority on Capitol Hill and blocking Trump’s agenda in order to implement their own policies. She said Democrats in Congress had voted against a defense spending bill because it limited funding for military women to have abortions.“Why does it harm military readiness?” Brown asked. “I don’t know. Maybe because Secretary of War (Pete) Hegseth said no more dudes in dresses.”
A short time later, a woman yelled out, “I can’t even sit through this kind of bull—-.”
Beckwith asked the police officers to please remove the woman. When the woman kept talking and said, “I can’t listen to this crazy coming out of your mouth,” Beckwith replied, “You sound pretty crazy. Why don’t you get out.”
Order was quickly restored and Brown continued. However, as she pointed to Obamacare and raised accusations of fraud, a man erupted, “You can’t even stay on topic about redistricting.”
Banging his gavel, Beckwith admonished the public that he would remove them if they did not remain quiet. “So, one more outburst and I’ll clear the gallery up there,” he said.
“Do better,” the man shouted back. Beckwith responded, “You do better. Get out.” After the man again shouted, “do better,” the lieutenant governor ended the disturbance by saying, “One more outburst, you and that whole gallery is getting out. That’s your final warning.”
Also, Beckwith posted some messages on his personal social media account during the Senate debate.
The lieutenant governor reposted on the X social-media site his praise of an angry, impassioned speech by Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, saying, “THIS is America First leadership!” When he posted a claim that “the far left is executing a coordinated, nationwide redistricting strategy,” Destiny Wells, a former Democratic candidate for Indiana attorney general, responded, seeming to remind Beckwith that he had been reprimand for such behavior during the 2025 legislative session.
“Are you live tweeting while presiding over the Senate?” Wells asked. “You’ve gotten in trouble for this before.”
On Friday, Beckwith bashed the Republican senators who did not support redistricting. He posted a lengthy missive on X, praising Trump and saying the Indiana Senate chose dishonor, instead of fighting a “Marxist movement.”
Above the pictures he posted of the GOP senators who voted no, Beckwith said, “The war didn’t start today. But today made it unmistakably clear who’s willing to stand … and who isn’t.”
Speaking on NewsNation, Beckwith said he did not think the fight over redistricting had ended. He acknowledged the issue will not likely emerge again during the 2026 legislative session, but, he said, Braun might call another special session and a map may “come up” next year.
Also, Beckwith echoed the call to action rising among some Republican factions. He said that those GOP lawmakers who voted no on redistricting could face well-funded challengers in the May 2026 primary.
“We welcome Donald Trump Jr. to come in,” Beckwith said. “We’re going to find some really good America First candidates to run in this next primary season.”
Anna Cecil of TheStatehouseFile.com contributed to this report.
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
