Threats and hoaxes target Indiana GOP senators in Trump’s redistricting push
Indiana Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange], poses in her law office, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in LaGrange, Ind. Photo by: AJ Mast/AP
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Indiana GOP senators face swatting, bomb threats and harassment amid Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting to boost Republican power in 2026.
Spencer Deery’s son was preparing for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming their home by reporting a fake emergency.
Nearby, Linda Rogers received threats at her family-owned home and golf course, which has been operated by her family for generations. And Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare, reported to local law enforcement via email.
These three lawmakers are among roughly a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate whose lives have been disrupted as President Donald Trump pushes to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
For lawmakers who consider themselves loyal party members, the experience has been both bewildering and frightening. “It’s a very dangerous and intimidating process,” Leising said, echoing the anxiety that has settled over the chamber.
Redistricting Ahead of Schedule
Redistricting usually occurs once a decade following the national census. Trump wants to accelerate the process to protect Republicans’ narrow majority in the U.S. House next year. His allies in Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina have already embraced similar plans to redraw political lines.
In Indiana, however, the effort faces resistance. While Governor Mike Braun and the state House support the proposal, some senators are wary of compromising their civic traditions for what they see as short-term partisan gain.
“When you have the president of the United States and your governor sending signals, you want to listen to them,” said Rogers, who has not publicly stated her position on the plan. “But it doesn’t mean you’ll compromise your values.”
On Friday, Trump posted a list of senators who “need encouragement to make the right decision,” and Turning Point Action, a conservative campaign group, announced it would spend heavily to unseat anyone who votes “no.” Senators are set to convene Monday to consider the proposal, after months of political turmoil.
Threats Shadow the Process
Deery considers himself fortunate. Local police, aware that he could be a target of “swatting” — a dangerous hoax in which someone reports a fake emergency to provoke a law enforcement response — were prepared.
“So when it happened last month while my son and others were waiting for the bus, officers didn’t rush in,” Deery said. “You could have had SWAT teams driving in with guns out while there were kids in the area.”
Deery was one of the first senators to publicly oppose mid-decade redistricting, saying it undermines voters’ ability to hold lawmakers accountable. “The country would be an uglier place for it,” he said, just days after Vice President JD Vance visited the state to advocate for the new maps.
Republican leaders in the Indiana Senate announced in mid-November that they would not hold a vote due to insufficient support. Trump reacted angrily on social media, calling the senators “weak and pathetic” and urging primary challenges for anyone who votes against the proposal. The threats against senators escalated soon after.
Sen. Sue Glick, a Republican first elected in 2010, said she has never seen “this kind of rancor” in politics. She opposes the plan, saying it “has the taint of cheating.”
Even supporters of the redistricting effort have been targeted. Sen. Andy Zay, whose vehicle-leasing business received a pipe bomb scare, believes the threat was linked to his criticism of Trump’s pressure campaign on lawmakers. Zay said such intimidation will not sway him. “For those who have made a decision to stand up for history and tradition, the tactics of persuasion do not embolden them to change their viewpoint,” he said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump Faces Mixed Support in Indiana
Trump has historically performed well in Indiana, and the state is firmly conservative. Yet Indiana Republicans do not always follow his movement unquestioningly. In last year’s primary, roughly 21% of Republican voters supported Nikki Haley, despite her campaign having ended months earlier.
Trump’s complex relationship with Indiana figures, including former Vice President Mike Pence, also looms over the debate. Pence, who represented Indiana in Congress and as governor before becoming Trump’s vice president, has not taken a public stance on the redistricting plan.
The proposed map, released Monday and approved by the state House on Friday, would split Indianapolis to dilute Democratic influence, attaching parts of the city to four Republican-leaning districts, one of which stretches to Kentucky.
Rogers, who owns the family golf course, declined to comment on the redistricting itself but said she was “very disappointed” by the threats. On Monday, she will be a central figure as a member of the Senate Elections Committee, which will hold the first vote on the redistricting bill in the chamber.
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