Indiana Redistricting Debate Intensifies as Virginia Vote Highlights Lack of Voter Voice

Let’s start with what happened in Virginia last night, because there is this ridiculous outrage from some people inside the Indiana Republican Party, some activists. And by the way, we’re going to talk a little bit about Trump orbit, because there’s a huge difference. There are a lot of people that are grifting, that are doing things for themselves, that pretend to be Trump people, and they’re not. We’re going to separate Trump voters from those people here in just a moment. But let’s talk about what happened in Virginia last night and the ridiculous outrage from some in the Indiana Republican Party who prevented what happened in Virginia from happening here. So last night, Virginia voters, via essentially a ballot referendum, voted to change their congressional maps. A ballot referendum means something bypasses the legislature for a vote. It goes directly to the people. You go to the polls, you vote yes or no. So via ballot referendum, the people of Virginia voted to change their congressional maps. In all likelihood, the changing of the congressional maps will probably mean an additional seat or two for the Democrats from the state of Virginia. Now, if we’re looking at the history of this, it started in Texas, this mid-cycle redistricting. It was then counteracted in California. The Republicans then did it in Missouri. They did it in North Carolina. They did it in Ohio. All of those will net Republican seats. The Democrats responded by doing it in Virginia. But the idea that it’s only Virginia that’s doing it is ridiculous. The Republicans have done this in numerous other states. And the big fish, which is still out there, is the state of Florida, which is likely to act in the near future, which will net Republican seats. So the idea that Democrats started this, the idea that Democrats are the only ones doing it, that is not true and ridiculous.

Virginia Redistricting Vote Highlights What Indiana Voters Were Denied

Now look, every state can do what they want to do. And in the state of Indiana, Republican senators made a choice based on what they had heard from their constituents. As much as a very small group of people want to believe that redistricting was this massive issue, it was not. I’ve seen the public polling done by Republican pollsters. I’ve seen internal numbers from that public polling that was released from Republican pollsters. Most people were apathetic to it. And those who knew what was going on, they tended to be against it. Republican senators saw this, and they voted accordingly. But let’s talk about the ridiculous outrage from people, these politicians, these activists in Indiana. Last night, Indiana did not redistrict, but the people of Indiana never had an opportunity to have a say. For years, people like myself have advocated for the Indiana General Assembly, with a very high threshold to obtain, to allow ballot referendums. Allow key issues, again, when we talk about a high threshold to obtain, a signature requirement, which would put the onus on the people who want a ballot referendum to hit a high threshold to prove there is a vast public interest in whatever the issue is, then allowing that issue to bypass the legislature and go on the ballot for people to decide. This is exactly what happened in Virginia. The people of Virginia had a say, and they voted according to their wishes. If the people of Indiana were really supportive of redistricting, then having the ballot referendum would have been the best way to prove that. No need to look at the polls. No need to look at the town halls. We would have the ultimate poll and town hall that mattered: ballot initiative.

Indiana’s Longstanding Resistance to Ballot Referendums Limits Public Voice

And for years, the Indiana Republicans in the General Assembly have said no, absolutely not, because they do not want the people of the state having a voice. They do not want the people of this state to have an opportunity to push back on their bad government. What they have done in the General Assembly is they have gerrymandered the districts. They’ve rigged the districts to where, other than a few purplish districts in central Indiana, there’s blue districts, there’s red districts. There’s no impeding on the blue and the red, and we can do whatever we want. House districts, Senate districts, we can do whatever we want. There is no pushback from the people because we look at you, and I mean we, I’m saying the General Assembly, and go, what are you going to do, vote Democrat? And because people have said no matter what crap the Republicans pull on us, we’re not voting Democrat, and they don’t see Democrats as a threat, the Republicans appeal to their donors and lobbyist crowd at the expense of us, which is why things like medical marijuana are not legal in the state of Indiana, because the pharmaceutical industry and the pharmaceutical lobby, which gives huge money to politicians, don’t want it. The Republicans in Indiana have had every opportunity for decades now, for decades, the people of Indiana have been asking for the ability to have a say on key issues. And for decades, the Indiana Republicans who have controlled Indiana government have said no. If they had simply done what Virginia has done, then we would have known whether or not the people of Indiana actually wanted redistricting. But instead, the same people who have denied the people of Indiana the ability, or the same types of people or from the same orbit, or have they supported the same people who have denied Indiana’s ability, the people of Indiana, to have a say, they’re now acting outraged that the people of Virginia took control of the situation and made their choice while we don’t have that option. “Well, RINO Republican senators have let everyone down.” My response to them is this: Did you ever consider that maybe the reason their constituents were apathetic at best about redistricting, or in many cases just plain didn’t want it, is because Republicans in Indiana and Washington alike don’t give the people of Indiana anything to be fired up about having more of them? People will vote Republican because the Democrats are so bad. I was thinking about this last night. It is a shame the Democrats are run by insane people. The Democrat Party, the activist base, are insane, crazy people. And that is a shame because the Republican Party is run by, well, in many cases, just establishment people who are only interested in protecting their own power and the service of their donors and their lobbyists. And so the people of Indiana get screwed. But the biggest reason of that is the Democrats have made themselves irrelevant because they have repeatedly catered to crazy people. The voice, the vision, the loudest people, the people who get the attention in the Democrat Party are insane in many cases. And until the Democrats fix that, the Republicans will keep being in charge, and they will keep making public policy that benefits their donors and their lobbyists and the special interests who fund their campaigns at the expense of the rest of us.

Public Rejection of Redistricting Reflects Broader Frustration With GOP Leadership

But redistricting, I think, was the ultimate act. When you looked at the public polling on redistricting, I think it was the ultimate act of the people of Indiana saying, we feel forced into voting Republican because Democrats are lunatics, but we don’t like you. We don’t want to hand you the ability to have more of you without you earning it, because you never earn it to begin with. That’s what the public polling rejecting redistricting was all about. The people of Indiana having their own form of a referendum, to the extent that they could, on the actual governance of Republicans. If people were fired up about Republicans and the way they’ve run Indiana and the way they’re running Washington, you would have seen a flood of support for redistricting. Every opportunity to prove there’s all these people behind redistricting, it has not materialized. The public polling, including that done by Republican pollsters, showed no. These multiple rallies that Turning Point USA organized, duds. The Scott Pressler guy who is here, who we’re told is this incredible internet influencer, by the way, talk about a losing streak. Pressler has lost now in Virginia. He has lost in New Jersey. And now he’s lost in Virginia again. He’s 0 for 3. He’s not New York Mets of 2026 yet, but it’s not a good look for this guy. And people are starting to catch on to what we’ve been saying: all hat, no cattle. Now, what he did in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago, that was impressive. But he has not come close to it since. It’s like a band that has one incredible hit and you’re like, oh my gosh, this is the new it guy. It’s sort of like the group Boston. You guys remember the group Boston? They had one incredible album, their debut. The debut album of Boston was amazing. It’s the greatest debut album of all time. And then after that, what they had was it. Amanda was the only hit they had after that. But you know what I’m saying. It’s like a band that you look at and think, oh my gosh, what an incredible debut album, this is the new it guy, and now it’s not materializing. The point is, though, redistricting advocates who claim all of these people are for it have had numerous opportunities to prove this, and it hasn’t materialized because redistricting and the public opinion on redistricting is saying, Republicans in Indiana, we’re stuck with you because we can’t go for Democrats. We’re stuck with you, but we don’t like you. We don’t appreciate the way you’ve led our state. We don’t appreciate the way you’re leading our country. We don’t appreciate the spending and the taxes and the crony capitalism. So no, we’re not going to be in favor of allowing the maps to be rigged so that more bad Republicans like Jefferson Shreve can be elected. The rigging of the maps was the Jennifer-Ruth Green Election Act, which is what they should have called it. And if you doubt me, what happened? As soon as the maps didn’t get changed, Jennifer-Ruth Green announced she wasn’t going to run for Congress. And look at the crop that the Republicans have been able to come up with in that first congressional district. It’s abysmal. The rigging of the maps was supposed to be all about winning that first congressional district. And if you want to win, if it really was a swing district, which the Republicans have said for years it is, the first congressional district, northwest Indiana, wouldn’t you have put all your time, after it didn’t pass, into candidate recruitment, campaign organization, all this money that’s going against defeating these senators, or vice versa, going up to the tens of millions of dollars that’s being sent into that district? But it isn’t about that. It has never been about redistricting for better government. It’s been about redistricting to protect Trump. It’s been about redistricting to rig the maps so that Republicans can hang on to power. And people are like, we’re not going to facilitate your shenanigans. We may be stuck with you, but we don’t have to like you. And we don’t have to rig the system to help bad government remain in full force.

Why Governing Performance, Not Map Changes, Will Decide Future Elections

If the Republicans really want to win more seats in Congress, especially in swing districts, here’s what you have to do: you have to govern better. You have to govern better at a local level. You have to govern better at a national level. That’s it. If people like the condition of their life, if they like the condition of their government, if they like the way things are going, they will vote for you. It’s just that simple. But Republicans time and again make promises when they campaign that they don’t cash, follow through on, when they’re elected. And look, governing is hard because you’ve got to stand up for the people. You’ve got to flip a middle finger to the special interests. I have asked this question repeatedly: What would one more Jefferson Shreve, how would that have made my life any better? No one can answer that. What have the Republicans done the past two years that you’re telling me one more, or even two more, Jefferson Shreves would make my life any better? There was no answer to that. The answer is nothing. What have we gotten under Republicans since Trump got back in office? We do have a better border, I will grant that. But everything else? Gas prices are more expensive than when Trump came into office. Inflation is still very high. Affordability is still totally out of control. We are now engaged in far more military conflicts than when Trump got in there. All of these things that I would look to as a voter, I have not gotten better. So when we separate, if we take a moment of honesty and we take off these imaginary hats that for some reason we put on the Republicans and Democrats, like Republicans for some reason in our mind wear the white hats and Democrats wear the black hats, when in reality they all wear the black hats. But if we can just remove our preconceived notions for a few moments and remove these transposed hats we put on these people, other than the border, what’s the difference? And if there is no real meaningful difference, why would you be so in favor of rigging the system to ensure that more people can get in there who don’t give a damn about you, who aren’t going to do the things for you to make your life better? Republicans in Indiana had every opportunity to have the same playing field that the people of Virginia did, which is to give the people a voice. They have repeatedly rejected it because they don’t want you to have a voice. Now they’re feigning outrage over the fact that the people of Virginia exercised their voice, and you didn’t exercise the voice they denied you the right to have. It is unbelievably gross. And we’re not going to let them get away with it here.