Five months after Indiana's GOP-led Senate rejected a Trump-backed plan to redraw congressional maps for House advantage, President Trump has endorsed Republican primary challengers against the senators who opposed it—including Sen. Spencer Deery—intensifying intraparty conflict ahead of Tuesday's primary.
The December 2025 vote saw 21 Republican senators join Democrats in a 31-19 defeat of the mid-decade redistricting bill, defying White House pressure despite Indiana Republicans holding a supermajority. Sen. Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) was vocal in opposition, vowing to resist federal overreach. The plan aimed to eliminate Indiana's two Democratic U.S. House seats.
Now, with the May 5, 2026, primary looming, Trump has backed challengers against nearly all the dissenting Republicans up for reelection. Deery faces Paula Copenhaver, an aide in Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith's office who met Trump at the White House. She quoted the president as being 'very straightforward' in his support and argued the senators' stance risks GOP House control: 'When we have the power to do good and we don't, shame on us.'
Deery dismissed the endorsements as 'intimidation' on a single issue, noting constituent opposition to the maps. Despite his 50-1 spending edge, national groups have funneled millions into Copenhaver's campaign, with activists like Scott Presler of Turning Point USA rallying in West Lafayette, calling her the 'true conservative.' The 2022 primary for the seat was razor-thin, decided by under 1,000 votes.
This follows earlier threats from Trump and Gov. Mike Braun, highlighting GOP tensions over aggressive redistricting tactics as the party eyes 2026 midterms.
