A group of Republican lawmakers from Indiana visited the White House on Tuesday for a meeting that touched on redistricting. The meeting came just days after the GOP-led Texas legislature passed congressional maps that could lead to Republicans winning an additional five seats in Congress during the 2026 midterms.
The Texas redistricting plan, which came at the urging of President Trump, has pushed additional states — led by both Republicans and Democrats — to explore options for redrawing their own congressional maps.
In California, voters will decide this November whether to approve partisan maps that boost Democrats' odds in congressional elections, overriding an independent redistricting provision in the state's constitution. Indiana Republican State Rep. Andrew Ireland, who represents some of the outlying areas of Indianapolis, was one of the lawmakers in attendance at the White House meeting.
In a Morning Edition interview on Wednesday, Ireland argued that Republicans have a "constitutional right to draw maps" in their favor, because they represent the state's majority, and they have for nearly a decade.
"Until Congress does its job, I think states have an obligation to really protect the interests of the majority," he said.
In a conversation with NPR's Steve Inskeep, Ireland spoke about Indiana voters, defended mid-decade redistricting and discussed why Republicans remain the majority in his state.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
Steve Inskeep: During Trump's time, the last decade or so, Indiana has been roughly a 60/40 state, about 60% Republican. In Congress you've got seven of nine Republican seats already, which is way more than 60% Republican. And the idea is to make it even more Republican, maybe unanimously Republican. Do you really want to make it nine out of nine?
Indiana state Rep. Andrew Ireland: I think that there's a strategic disadvantage at the national level for Republicans in Congress because of partisan gerrymandering in other states like our neighbor, Illinois. Right now, the leader of our party, I think, recognized that issue. And we can sit on our laurels and say that we have this map that, the Princeton election lab, for example, rates as one of the least gerrymandered in the country. Or we can get in the fight and we can level the playing field. And I think that's the conversation we're having now.
Inskeep: You're making an argument, as Democrats are, that the other guys are doing it more. But I want to focus just for a moment on the state of Indiana. You were quoted as saying Democrats "have no business representing us in Washington." Is that a thing you said?
Ireland: That's right. I say that because you look at Indiana and the political makeup–Yes, we're 60/40. But also Democrats have not won over the average Hoosier in a statewide vote for more than a decade in a single office. I think that says a lot about where the party is that it no longer connects with the average Hoosier voter.
There's something to be said that we should have congressional maps that, one, reflect the average Hoosier voter. They don't really kind of swing hard to one party or another, but actually just swing to the basic average within the state. And then if Democrats can't win that, I mean, that's on Democrats. And the fact that they're not focusing on policies and issues that matter.
Inskeep: Although, I was looking at those recent elections. And you're right, Republicans have won big in this era in Indiana. In previous decades, they did better. Democrats did better. But Republicans are dominant now. And yet it would seem that more than a million Hoosiers disagree with you, because that's the number that voted for Democrats for president or for governor in 2024, well over a million. That would include a majority of people in Indianapolis, the city you represent. Are you dismissing the wishes of your own constituents?
Ireland: No, I'm not. And I'll say, I mean, too, take Massachusetts, for example, it also has nine congressional seats. The political makeup is almost exactly the same, 60/40, but Democrat to Republican. But in Massachusetts, the same for all of New England, it is entirely a Democrat congressional delegation. Indiana, again, if you're going to level the playing field, and we're going to play by a system that really evens out the kind of a partisan split in Congress, I don't think there's anything then wrong for Indiana to take a similar course.
Inskeep: I think you can make the case about Massachusetts. And I think about that sometimes. If you're a Massachusetts Republican, it's got to be very frustrating. But it sounds like you want the same thing for Indiana?
Ireland: Candidly, I would like to see a world where Congress steps in and does its job to rein in partisan gerrymandering. But until Congress does its job, I think states have an obligation to really protect the interests of the majority, and in particular [on an] aggregate and national scale. And right now, candidly, states like Indiana kind of sat by and said, 'Even though Illinois is doing this, even though California, Maryland [and] other states – that we're going to sit back and try to do it the right way.' And I respect that. I think there's something to be said for that. But at the same time, you can't put your partisan kind of bend at a strategic disadvantage on a national level and really marginalize your own voters in the process.
Inkseep: I do have to mention there are a number of Democratic led states where they've put these nonpartisan processes in place, in fact, California is one. That's what they're now backing out of in response to the redistricting in Texas. It's not like Democrats have made no effort. If Democrats should win one election in Indiana, which I grant is unlikely now, should they have the right to just shut you out of power forever?
Ireland: Well, let me push back first on saying that we have these nonpartisan commissions. And yes, they're nonpartisan in name, but I think if you look at the political affiliation of the individuals that stop them rarely are they truly nonpartisan. But I will say, yeah, of course. If Democrats win elections in Indiana, then they are given the constitutional right to draw maps. And again, I would encourage them to really focus on issues that matter to Hoosiers. And maybe they would have a little more luck at the ballot box. But they really haven't. They're out of touch with the average voter, and that's why they're in the predicament they're in now.
Copyright 2025 NPR
