Trump strikes back: GOP lawmakers who opposed president on redistricting pay price
He wasn't on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was the big winner in Indiana's primary.The president scored decisive victories in a slate of state primaries in the solidly red...
By Fox News · Fox News
He wasn't on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was the big winner in Indiana's primary. The president scored decisive victories in a slate of state primaries in the solidly red Midwestern state, another sign that his immense grip on the Republican Party remains rock solid. The political world was closely watching Indiana's primary because it was the first of a series of major tests this month of Trump's endorsement power in GOP nomination showdowns, and the president cleared his first hurdle with ease. Five months ago, Republicans in the GOP-dominated Indiana state Senate withstood immense pressure from Trump and his allies and voted down congressional redistricting, which would have given Indiana two more right-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB Fast-forward to Tuesday and eight of those state senators faced GOP primary challenges. Seeking retribution, the president endorsed challengers to seven of the eight Republican lawmakers who voted against the redistricting bill. Five of the Trump-endorsed candidates won, with one incumbent surviving and one race yet to be decided as of early Wednesday morning. "Everyone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters," Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, a top Trump ally in the Senate, said in a statement as the results poured in. Banks, who was a key part of the team of Trump allies and advisors in the effort to defeat the incumbent GOP state senators, emphasized that "Indiana is a conservative state, and we deserve conservatives in our State Senate who have a pulse on Republican voters." SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE'S MAJORITY Trump and his team started flexing their political muscles soon after the president's push for redistricting in Indiana came crashing down last December. A Republican source familiar…