By Kyra Howard
The Indiana Citizen
October 31, 2025
Although the crowd gathered at the Morgan County Public Library on Thursday night was small, a majority sent a strong message to the Statehouse: They would not vote for any elected official who supported redistricting.
The group of roughly 30 people were attending a nonpartisan listening session about redistricting hosted by ReCenter Indiana, a civic-engagement nonprofit. The community meeting is one of three being held to provide a place where Hoosiers can ask questions and legislators can listen. Attendees in the lower-level room of the Martinsville library were quiet and attentive throughout the presentation. They took notes, asked questions, listened to each other’s concerns and discussed their thoughts on the mid-decade redistricting with one another.
As part of the hour-and-a-half discussion, the attendees were polled about various topics relating to Indiana’s politics. Polls were taken throughout the meeting, but two of them directly followed the redistricting explanation. One poll asked, “After our discussion tonight, do you support mid-cycle redistricting.” Twenty-seven in the group voted no, while one voted yes.
Next, the group was asked how their reaction to redistricting would translate at the ballot box. In response to the question, “If my elected officials support mid-cycle redistricting…,” 23 people said the officials “have lost my vote,” while two said they were “not sure.” No one said that the officials “have earned my vote.”
The results of the polls about redistricting made an impression on Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville.
Mayfield, who would have to vote on any new maps that are offered in the legislature in the upcoming special session, has not stated publicly whether she supports or opposes redistricting. She did say she benefited from listening to the people at the ReCenter event.
“The constituents’ input will be the main driver of my decision,” Mayfield said.
Indiana Republican lawmakers are being pushed by the Trump administration to redraw the state’s congressional district map in advance of the 2026 midterm election. Historically, the party in power has lost seats in Congress in the midterms, but President Donald Trump is trying to thwart a blue wave by pressuring GOP-controlled statehouses to redistrict to give the advantage to Republican candidates.
While other Republican-dominated legislatures in states like Texas and Missouri have redrawn their maps, Indiana has held off. Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, recently called a special legislative session to consider redistricting. Braun said the special session was expected to start Nov. 3, but Republican leadership in the Indiana House and Senate have said the legislators will not convene until later.
Despite the Indiana legislature’s Republican supermajority, Senate President Pro Tempore Rod Bray’s office said recently that the upper chamber does not have the votes to pass new maps. Some Indiana Republican representatives and senators have publicly stated they will not support redistricting, while others have either affirmed their “yes” vote or said they are still deciding.
Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis, led the presentation on redistricting for ReCenter Indiana. In a relaxed and conversational manner, she explained the nuances and controversies of redistricting to the crowd.
Merrifield Wilson said redistricting can turn the tables, so that legislators are picking their voters, rather than voters picking their legislators. Gerrymandering occurs when a district’s boundaries are drawn to create a political advantage for one party. She said the two main types of gerrymandering are cracking, which is splitting up a similar group of voters into multiple districts to dilute their vote, and packing, which is putting large numbers of a specific group of the electorate into a single district, so their voting strength is weakened.
Following Merrifield Wilson’s presentation, the audience asked several questions.
One audience member asked whether redistricting could lower Indiana’s already low turnout. Merrifield Wilson replied it is hard to imagine an already depressed voter participation rate getting any lower, but since midterm elections traditionally attract fewer voters than presidential elections, it’s very possible.
Another person asked how much the mid-decade redistricting would cost taxpayers. Merrifield Wilson said the cost will largely depend on when legislators actually convene for the special session and how long it takes to complete their work.
Another asked whether mid-decade redistricting would better serve Hoosiers or politicians. Merrifield Wilson said there is value in pursuing this for the Trump administration and Republicans, but in terms of what Hoosiers want, a recent poll showed 53% of Hoosiers opposed redistricting.
Mayfield asked a question that other lawmakers have raised about the midcycle redistricting: “Is it legal?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Merrifield Wilson responded. She added she expects to see legal challenges to any new congressional district maps that the Indiana General Assembly approves.
After the question-and-answer portion of the evening, the discussion widened beyond redistricting. Merrifield Wilson asked the room, “What are other issues that are most important to you?”
People responded with a variety of their concerns, including health care, child care, abortion, immigration and housing. As their concerns continued to be listed, the mood in the room became much more serious.
A microphone was then passed around the room to allow people to expand on their concerns. Dianna Jennings, of Martinsville, who said she is against redistricting, talked about struggling families. She said Morgan County has a lot of poverty and food banks are struggling to provide enough food. Jennings is worried the county will have a lot of hungry kids and caregivers.
“I think I’m going to be fine,” Jennings said, “but I don’t know if my neighbors are going to be fine and that really scares me.”
Along with Mayfield, Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, and Michelle Higgs, a Democrat who said she is running for Mayfield’s seat in 2026, were at the ReCenter listening session.
Yoder wore bright yellow shoes as she sat in the audience.
“I value so much, that torch in the Indiana flag,” Yoder said, explaining she chose the footwear to invoke the state’s flag. “It is yellow, and it is a reminder to bring that same kind of passion every single day that I have the privilege of serving Hoosiers.”
She spoke briefly when introduced but was quiet the majority of the meeting. She took notes and nodded her head at times.
“Hearing from Hoosiers tonight, it gives me hope,” Yoder told The Indiana Citizen. “It also reinforces what we’ve been hearing again and again and again, and that is the majority of Hoosiers don’t want redistricting. The question (is) how does this make my life better? That was so telling, because, generally, people did not know. Genuinely, they were like, I don’t know how this would make my life better. And I think at the end of the day, this redistricting or rigging up (of) our maps, isn’t at all about making people’s lives better. It’s about a power grab for Washington insiders, full stop.”
ReCenter Indiana will be hosting two more listening sessions on redistricting. Each remaining session will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the following days and locations:
The events are free and open to the public. Participants can register to attend at ReCenterIndiana.org/news or eventbrite.com.
Kyra Howard is a 2023 graduate of the Franklin College Pulliam School of Journalism, where she was an award-winning writer for TheStatehouseFile.com. In 2025, she received third in the breaking news category of the Indiana Pro SPJ Best in Indiana Contest, third place for breaking news reporting in the Indiana Collegiate Press Association Contest and first place for breaking news reporting in the SPJ Region 5 Mark of Excellence Awards. All three awards came for her reporting on Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, showing his handgun to students protesting gun violence at the Indiana Statehouse in 2024, a national story she broke.
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.
