Why Indiana Republicans Are Standing Up to Trump

"The Indiana legislature does not keep its constituents at a great distance. As lawmakers convened in Indianapolis on Monday to consider a bill backed by President Donald Trump to redraw the state's congressional map, all that separated them from protesters who had gathered in a corridor just outside the capitol chamber was a series of glass windows. Inside the room, chants of "Just vote no!" and "We want fair maps!" could be heard as clearly as the legislative debate."

"The state Senate is meeting under threat. Trump and his allies have vowed to target Republican lawmakers who vote against a redistricting plan that could wipe out the state's Democratic congressional representation, protecting the U.S. House GOP majority. Over the past several weeks, Republican state legislators have faced a wave of "swatting" incidents, bomb threats, and other anonymous acts of intimidation, leading some to worry about their personal safety."

""We can have an argument and still be nice," Mike Gaskill, the Republican chair of the senate's elections committee, said as he opened a hearing on the redistricting bill. It was a plea as much as a declaration. Indiana Republicans have been targeted because a number of them have done something that few others in the party, either in Washington, D.C., or in state capitals across the country, have dared to do: They have stood up to Trump."

Lawmakers in Indiana faced protesters located just outside the capitol chamber while debating a Trump-backed bill to redraw congressional districts. Glass windows separated legislators from chants demanding fair maps. Republican state senators are meeting amid explicit threats and intimidation, including "swatting" incidents and bomb threats. Trump and allies have vowed to target Republicans who vote against the redistricting plan, arguing the map would protect the GOP majority by eliminating Democratic representation. Some Indiana Republicans have resisted the administration's redistricting push, prompting heightened concern about personal safety and political pressure.

Read at The Atlantic