Donald Trump scored a major victory in Indiana's primary elections on Tuesday, as a majority of state Republican legislators who opposed his redistricting plan lost their seats to his endorsed challengers. At least five of the seven Trump-backed candidates for state senate won, turning the vote into a referendum on political retribution.
The president had targeted seven state senators who voted against his mid-decade redistricting push, vowing that 'every one of these people should be primaried'. Trump-aligned dark money groups spent over $7m on TV ads in the state, much of it targeting Republicans who allied with Democrats in the December redistricting vote.
Among the losers was Jim Buck, a state senator from Kokomo who lost after 18 years in office. 'We've never had Washington meddle into our elections like they have this time,' Buck told NPR. 'Now I've got over $1m against me in one race.' One ad described the 80-year-old as 'old, pathetic, liberal'.
Republicans currently hold seven of Indiana's nine congressional districts, and the overall balance of power is unlikely to change in this year's midterms. Trump's redistricting plan aimed to break up the first and seventh districts, representing Indianapolis and Gary, where Democrats have consistently held seats.
Unlike in Indiana, lawmakers in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio all passed redistricting measures to boost Republican control. Representatives in Alabama and Tennessee have called for special sessions after a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for revisions in Louisiana.
