CHICAGO – With the carved image of Martin Luther King Jr. as their backdrop, state House Democrats from Indiana and Texas, in a show of cross-state solidarity, coalesced in Chicago’s Marquette Park to highlight their joint resistance against Republican-led redistricting plans.
The meeting linked two minority caucuses from deeply conservative states, each facing legislatures dominated by the GOP, in a shared bid to spotlight what they see as partisan gerrymandering and threats to voting rights. Their joint appearance comes amid broader national tensions over election laws, with Democrats positioning the fight as part of a larger pushback against the Trump administration’s influence on state-level voting rules.
Indiana has nine congressional districts across the state, with only two held by Democrats. Those districts are anchored by two counties, Lake and Marion, which contain the state’s highest concentration of African American and Latino voters. The seats are currently held by Reps. Frank Mrvan and André Carson.
State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., chair of Indiana’s Black Legislative Caucus, represents a number of those voters in his district, which covers large portions of Gary and East Chicago.
“My district has a big population of Blacks and Latinos,” Harris said. “Why are we disenfranchising the voters? Black and brown people show what we want to represent, so willing to stand here and fight and be here in this fight.”
Vice President JD Vance visited with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun last week to discuss redistricting, among other things, but the governor has yet to decide whether he will call for a special session.
Earlier this week, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith took questions regarding redistricting at a town hall meeting in Lake County, where he indicated that he would only oppose it if there was a federal mandate to create fair districts nationwide.
“If we had a national agreement where we could come say, ‘Hey, let’s create fair districts in every state,’ I’m all ears,” Beckwith told attendees. “I would love to see that, but until that point, we need to do it because the other states are doing it.”
“Never in my life did I think that the vice president of the United States would come to my state and ask our legislature to shoplift for congressional districts.”
Ed DeLaney, Indiana state representative
Redistricting in most states is generally done every 10 years, in lockstep with the U.S. census.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special session, which began on July 21. Since that time, multiple House Democrats have left the state to deny a quorum needed to hold a vote.
On Wednesday, Harris, along with other Indiana Democrats, joined the Texas Democrats, who are at risk of possibly losing congressional seats.
Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu, labeling the redistricting efforts “racist and unconstitutional,” said he and his colleagues are trying to get the attention of Americans.
“This is an effort to stifle Americans who have had enough,” Wu said.
“Republicans know that their agenda and what they’ve done is so unpopular with all Americans that they need to cheat and rig the system so they can stay in power.”
Wu and his fellow House Democrats who left the state are still facing daily fines of $500 and the threat of arrest, as civil arrest warrants were issued by their Republican colleagues. While they have managed to hold up movement in the state House, Texas Senate Republicans passed the new maps this week.
“This is not a fight that we can sustain and win on our own,” Wu said. “We need more people to join us, more states to come to our aid, and we need more people to say we will start taking more aggressive action. We will defend against this.”
State Rep. Ed DeLaney, who represents portions of Indianapolis and serves as the assistant caucus chair, said he was taken aback by Vance’s visit and subsequent special session request.
“Never in my life did I think that the vice president of the United States would come to my state and ask our legislature to shoplift for congressional districts — steal them off the shelf, run outside, and wave them in front of the country,” DeLaney said.
