Reporting live from the Indiana State Capitol on Tuesday, radio show host John Fredericks described an intense political scene as lawmakers consider a mid-census redistricting bill.
Indiana is pursuing mid-census redistricting as Republican lawmakers argue that other states – particularly Democratic-led states like California and Illinois – have already undertaken aggressive partisan map-drawing outside the normal 10-year census cycle.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have framed the effort as necessary to keep pace with national redistricting tactics and ensure Indiana is not disadvantaged as other states redraw their maps mid-decade.
Reporting live from the Hoosier State, Fredericks appeared on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, where he highlighted that the redistricting bill narrowly advanced out of the Senate Elections Committee in a 6-3 vote, with three Republican swing members allowing it to move forward despite public caveats that their final votes were not guaranteed.
Fredericks expressed confidence that these senators would ultimately support the bill when it reaches the full Senate, arguing that reversing their committee vote would be politically damaging.
“They would be singled out…and I don’t think that they are going to want that coming down on them,” he said.
Fredericks described the Capitol environment as a “fierce” battleground, with hundreds of protesters – whom he claimed were mobilized or paid by leftist organizations like AFL-CIO and Planned Parenthood – voicing strong opposition to the redistricting plan.
“The Rotunda had 350-400 people in it, and 96 percent of those were protesters against [redistricting]. Nasty signs, nasty people. Many of them I asked, how’d you get here? AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood. They’re all paid,” he said.
Fredericks emphasized how Republicans must be prepared for aggressive political combat, characterizing the fight as part of a broader national struggle. According to Fredericks, Republicans currently have 24 solid votes for passage and need 26, making the remaining undecided senators pivotal to the bill’s success.
“This is a fierce battle…I keep telling these Republicans around the country, if you are not in this and you aren’t ready to pull the bazooka out and lock and load, you’re gonna get your head blown off,” Fredericks warned.
“These people smell victory. They smell a communist takeover. They smell it and they see it, and so they’re going for it. And we gotta be able to stand up to them,” he added.
Fredericks argued that passing the bill would energize similar Republican-led efforts nationwide.
“It’s going to give backbone and spine to other Republican state houses around the country that have the wherewithal to do this, to do it and get in this fight,” he stressed.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Indiana Capitol” by Drew Tarvin. CC BY 2.0.
