What’s behind the Indiana Legislature’s special session on redistricting and how could it play out?

Gov. Mike Braun has called a special session of the Indiana Legislature, set to begin Monday, Nov. 3, that could make Indiana one of states to redraw its congressional maps before next year’s midterm elections. The Trump administration has lobbied Braun and Republican lawmakers since at least August to reapportion the state’s nine districts in hopes of engineering a GOP sweep next year. Indiana’s congressional delegation already is dominated by Republicans, but two of the state’s nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives currently are held by Democrats.

Braun called the special session despite a definitive report from Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray’s office that there wasn’t enough support in the Indiana Senate to redraw the maps. But Braun believes the votes will be there. In this edition of the IBJ Podcast, host Mason King is joined by two local journalists with significant experience covering the legislature to dissect the events that led to the special session and explain how it could play out. They also discuss the history of redistricting in Indiana and the decades-long battle to expand political power by changing boundaries on a map.