Defies, Rejects, Blocks, Defeats, Fails, Kills

Believe it or not, there are 21 Republicans in Indiana that did a right thing

Beatrix knows how to kill a Bill, as did the Indiana GOP.

Late afternoon yesterday, just 14 days before Christmas, Donald Trump had his “executive time” interrupted by a slew of headlines emanating from Indiana, all of which featured words he hates:

Indiana GOP rejects Trump’s map in major blow to his gerrymandering push

Redistricting bill dies in Indiana Senate

Indiana Republicans defy Trump’s push for redistricting as Senate rejects bill

Indiana GOP redistricting bill fails in state Senate despite pressure from Trump

Indiana redistricting bill that Trump demanded defeated in state Senate

Indiana GOP senators Andy Zay and Sue Glick spoke out on this historic vote, Glick pointing out what should have been obvious to all: “People deserve the representation.” Unfortunately, GOP leadership has not been on board with that concept for some time, as they pander to Donald Trump and put the mandates of Project 2025 ahead of the needs of their constituents.

GOP state senator, R. Michael Young, who voted in favor of the gerrymandering, put an interesting spin on yesterday’s vote in addressing a journalist’s inquiry as to whether the rejection of the redistricting would cause divisions in the Indiana GOP. Young responded with, “Well, I don’t know, the other side won, but we don’t tend to be too upset about it.” And when asked whether the leadership in the Indiana senate did all they could to get the redistricting passed, Young replied: “No, they did all they could to kill it.” Alrighty, then. Permission granted to crack a smile.

These comments would lead one to believe the rejection of the bill, despite the appearance of the Indiana GOP’s mostly supporting it, was actually a concerted effort to quash it, especially when the substantial crossover in votes by Republicans in both chambers is considered. Between the House and Senate, a total of 34 Republicans voted against the gerrymandering.

Folks! It’s time to log out of X and shift gears. I mean it. We all need to take a vacation from this bad juju and send some good vibes to the people in Indiana who acted with integrity today — people you may never feel inclined to invite over for dinner, but who deserve our respect and some encouragement, nonetheless. We need to say, “thank you.” With conviction.

I’m talking about the Indiana Republicans who gave Donald Trump the middle finger when they voted to kill House Bill 1032.

As you likely heard, the overwhelmingly Republican Indiana State Senate (40 Republicans, 10 Democrats) rejected a highly controversial Republican redraw of the congressional map which would have guaranteed the GOP two more seats in the United States House of Representatives at the midterm election, while also stifling the voting power of minorities in the state and causing an extreme political bias that would not reflect the true voice of the state’s voters.

In a remarkable turnabout, the Indiana Senate voted against the new map, which had already passed with a 57 — 41 vote in the state’s House last Friday, 13 Republican representatives breaking ranks.

To say the Indiana legislature’s inability to pass this bill was a major loss for Donald Trump would be an understatement. Trump had orchestrated a relentless pressure campaign to ensure the legislators did his bidding, setting his dogs on them for four months, with JD Vance visiting the state multiple times to harass legislators in person, and Mike Johnson making repeated phone calls to the holdouts, threatening to withdraw all federal funds if they didn’t comply with the party’s demands. Their unambivalent message: anyone who voted against the redrawn district maps would be shouldering the blame for the damage this did to state projects reliant on federal funds.

During those four months, not only were the state representatives and senators of concern pressured by their colleagues and their governor, but they also received bomb threats, endured swatting, experienced a barrage of menacing social media messages, and were subjected to threats of violence.

Then, yesterday morning, before the vote took place, The Heritage Foundation added this to the pileup in an intimidating statement on X:

“President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes, and every NO vote will be to blame.”

State Senator Greg Goode, a Republican who was rallying colleagues to vote against the bill, had this to say in his floor speech prior to the vote:

“The forces that define (the) vitriolic political affairs in places outside of Indiana have been gradually and now very blatantly infiltrat(ing) the political affairs in Indiana. Misinformation, cruel social media posts, over-the-top pressure from within the state house and outside, threats of primaries, threats of violence, acts of violence. Friends, we’re better than this.”

And so it was that despite intense pressure from Trump and their colleagues, 21 of the 40 Republicans in the Indiana State Senate, a majority of the party, joined hands with the senate’s 10 Democrats in doing the right thing — rejecting the controversial gerrymandering bill.

PLEASE take time today to thank the decent Republicans who understood the importance of giving everyone in their state a voice. Though it may be hard to say something nice to a Republican in this day and age, appreciate that it took monumental courage for these Republicans to take on their own party — a party drunk with power.

These are the Republicans in the Indiana State Senate who voted against redistricting, and their email addresses:

• Senator Bray: s37@iga.in.gov

• Senator Eric Bassler: s39@iga.in.gov

• Senator Vaneta Becker: s50@iga.in.gov

• Senator Mike Bohacek: s8@iga.in.gov

• Senator Brian Buchanan: s7@iga.in.gov

• Senator James Buck: s21@iga.in.gov

• Senator Ed Charbonneau: s5@iga.in.gov

• Senator Brett Clark: s24@iga.in.gov

• Senator Michael Crider: s28@iga.in.gov

• Senator Spencer Deery: s23@iga.in.gov

• Senator Dan Dernulc: s1@iga.in.gov

• Senator Blake Doriot: s12@iga.in.gov

• Senator Susan Glick: s13@iga.in.gov

• Senator Greg Goode: s38@iga.in.gov

• Senator Travis Holdman: s19@iga.in.gov

• Senator Jean Leising: s42@iga.in.gov

• Senator Ryan Mishler: s9@iga.in.gov

• Senator Rick Niemeyer: s6@iga.in.gov

• Senator Linda Rogers: s11@iga.in.gov

• Senator Greg Walker: s41@iga.in.gov

• Senator Kyle Walker: s31@iga.in.gov

I hope you can take time today to show some gratitude to these brave folks.

Your pal, Chris

---

---

More food for thought…

This story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, was written in 1948 and published in The New Yorker. It is a story about a small farm town’s annual tradition of choosing, by lottery, one person who will be stoned to death by their neighbors, adults and children alike — a sacrifice meant to ensure a bountiful harvest.

The themes in this story could not be more pertinent, with parallels to the twisted values in today’s evangelical Christian culture — namely, the outdated traditions and religious beliefs in tandem with blind conformity. And there is the issue of that great darkness in humans: our capacity for cruelty.

It is no coincidence that Shirley Jackson conceived of this story shortly after the Nuremberg Trials revealed to the world the depths of depravity to which the “good and righteous” people of Nazi Germany were capable of plummeting.