By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
November 4, 2025
Republican leadership of the Indiana House and Senate announced on Monday the legislature will be convening during the opening two weeks of December to address what Speaker Todd Huston called “time sensitive issues,” which presumably will include redrawing the state’s congressional district map.
The 2026 General Assembly regular session officially starts Nov. 18, known as Organization Day, which is traditionally when all the legislators convene at the Statehouse and the Republican and Democrat leaders outline their respective parties’ agendas for the legislative session. Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray’s office said the first two weeks of next month are being held open for the legislature to reconvene with the legislative business concluding by Dec. 12. Then the General Assembly will depart and return to the Statehouse on Jan. 5, 2026, to resume legislative business.
At the end of October, Gov. Mike Braun called a special session to consider redistricting and making changes to the state tax code to align with federal tax laws. Neither Bray, R-Martinsville, or Huston, R-Fishers, specifically mentioned redistricting in their statements about the decision to call lawmakers back to work immediately after Thanksgiving.
“Because of this calendar alignment,” Huston said in a statement, “starting the regular session early would be the most cost effective and efficient way to address the Governor’s call for a special session.”
However, Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, released a statement on Monday asserting the focus of the early session will be to reconfigure the congressional district maps.
“Let’s call this what it is: a mid-decade scheme to rig the maps, and the only reason this is even on the table is because (President Donald) Trump’s losing – and Gov. (Mike) Braun caved.”
The Trump administration has been directing Republican-dominated state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts to favor GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 mid-term election. Trump is trying to thwart a blue wave that could put Democrats in control of the U.S. House for the remaining two years of his presidential term.
Indiana has been in the president’s sights since August, when Vice President JD Vance visited the Statehouse to meet with Braun, Bray and Huston. Although state Republican lawmakers also traveled to the White House and talked to Vance when he returned to the Hoosier State in October, GOP representatives and senators in the supermajority have wavered in their support for a rare mid-decade redistricting.
Democrat lawmakers and voting-advocacy organizations have been relentless in protesting against a potential redistricting, holding numerous town halls and rallies across the state and contacting Republican legislators to voice their concerns. The opponents have not only described mid-decade redistricting as cheating and as a power grab by the Republicans, they have also pointed to the price tag of potentially $240,000 or more for a special session and noted the supermajority will be spending taxpayer dollars to redraw the congressional maps, while Hoosier households are struggling to stay afloat.
“While people lie awake doing math just to survive,” Yoder said, “the Governor made time to draw himself a ‘better’ map, and that tells you everything.”
In announcing the December calendar, Bray and Huston seemed to be trying to mute the cost-to-taxpayers argument.
“Adjusting the 2026 legislative calendar is what makes the most sense when we consider member schedules, the logistics of legislative action and – most importantly – the costs to the taxpayer,” Bray said in a statement. “Making this shift allows the legislature to consider the topics presented to us in a thoughtful way without burdening Hoosier taxpayers with the cost of a special session.”
Even so, Democrats appear to be prepared to keep the focus on money. Several statements from lawmakers emphasized the legislature should instead be helping Hoosiers with the high costs of groceries, utilities, health care and housing, rather than reconfiguring the congressional boundaries, only a few years after Republicans redrew those boundaries in 2021 after the last U.S. Census. Consequently, the Democrats indicated they are ready to introduce bills – and possibly force votes – addressing these issues.
“Regardless of whether the General Assembly is convening for a special or regular session, I remain laser-focused on one priority: addressing the rising costs that are squeezing Indiana families,” Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, said in a statement on Monday. “Whether it’s soaring insurance premiums, escalating energy bills, or the burden of child care expenses and property taxes, Hoosiers are struggling to get by and deserve meaningful relief. Partisan redistricting does nothing to put money back in people’s pockets or food on their tables.”
Of Indiana’s nine congressional seats, seven are held by Republicans. The push to redistrict has focused on trying to loosen the Democrats’ grip on the 1st and 7th congressional districts, which cover northwest Indiana and most of the city of Indianapolis, respectively, and are home to Indiana’s largest minority communities. Rep. Frank Mrvan was first elected to represent the 1st District in 2020, while Rep. Andre Carson has been serving the 7th District since 2008.
Members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus have criticized redistricting as an attempt to dilute minority voices at the ballot box and oust Carson, Indiana’s only Black congressman. Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, cited what she saw as a snub of minority lawmakers in Monday’s announcement by Bray and Huston. The Republican leaders disclosed their plans for an early start to the session at the same time that the IBLC was hosting a rally at the Statehouse against redistricting. Also, she pointed out that the December dates the GOP chose to conduct the early session will conflict with the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ annual conference, which some IBLC members have already made plans to attend.
“I will cancel those arrangements (to attend the national conference) to be here to fight against this partisan power grab that is targeting minority voters in two congressional districts,” Pryor said in a statement. “The two districts that Republicans seek to annihilate with these new maps are also the two most diverse areas of the state. Getting rid of congressional representation for Marion County and Lake County is an explicit attempt to silence minority voices.”
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.
