Braun Defends Redistricting Plan as Senate Begins Talks
STATEHOUSE — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun defended his redistricting plan Friday, saying it would “even the playing field” in the heavily Republican state. He added that the debate is far from over as the Senate prepares to start discussions.
“Hopefully we won’t have to drag them through this more than we’ve done so far, but it’s not over if they don’t do it,” Braun said of lawmakers weighing mid-cycle redistricting. “I’m hoping that you support the local part of our youth in the state obviously… what happens after remains to be seen, but it’ll be a longer-term thing that gets a Senate.”
He dismissed claims the plan is a GOP power grab. “It’s not a wet blanket for everything you don’t wanna do to make any better,” he said, blaming Democrats for blocking past reforms.
Braun also defended the proposals for Marion County. “I’ve done it for 20 years — that argument that if you’re doing it, it’s a political maneuver… The other side of the aisle has been much better at it. They’re complaining loudly because they can’t do much more of it.”
“This is about evening the playing field, and a state like ours, even with these maps, will be far less gerrymandered than almost any blue state that has already taken it to the hill,” he added.
He said some Republicans may be “out of sync with most Republicans and conservatives in the state,” while Democrats oppose the plan because “they were the masters of it, and they can’t do any more of it, marginally speaking.”
Braun acknowledged the likelihood of political spending against GOP legislators who oppose the map changes and said he expects to play an active role.
“If we want to send that everything dies within political or even policy-wise, this is kind of symbolic of what the next three to seven years will be,” he said. “I’ve gone through the toughest political races probably any Hoosier has ever gone through in recent times, so I know how to get from here to there… If you’re trying to be against actually fixing things like healthcare, making education more affordable, doing things that make a state run better — that’s a place in the first year I’ve had to wrestle with the most.”
