COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) 鈥� A majority of Republican Indiana state senators whose opponents were endorsed by President Donald Trump lost on Tuesday, a display of the president’s enduring influence over his party after five months ago.
Of the seven challengers endorsed by Trump, at least five won. One incumbent prevailed and the seventh race was too close to call.
鈥淏ig night for MAGA in Indiana,鈥� U.S. Sen. Jim Banks wrote on social media, adding that he was 鈥減roud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the Indiana State Senate.鈥�
The president鈥檚 allies spent at least $8.3 million on races that rarely get much attention from Washington. It鈥檚 been that has exacerbated tensions among Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
State Sen. Travis Holdman, one of the incumbents to lose his primary, said he was at peace with his defeat. He voted against redistricting and faced more than $1.3 million in attack advertising funded by organizations tied to Banks and Gov. Mike Braun.
鈥淚 did what my constituents asked me to do and it cost me my job,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 OK.鈥�
Holdman warned that a more aggressive style of campaigning was arriving in his state.
鈥淲elcome to D.C. politics in Indiana because this means that鈥檚 what鈥檚 coming,鈥� he said.
The race that was too close to call was the most expensive of the seven primaries.
The superpacs led by Banks and Braun combined to spend more than $2.2 million on advertising attacking Sen. Spencer Deery, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Deery spent roughly $815,000 on advertising, according to AdImpact, having only spent a combined $142,000 on the 2022 primary and general election when he was first elected.
Indiana rejected Trump on redistricting
Trump began leaning on Republican-led states last year to redraw their congressional maps to make it easier for his party to hold its thin majority in the U.S. House. Although redistricting is normally done once a decade, after a new census, Trump wanted to abandon tradition to gain a political edge.
Texas was the first to follow through, and the White House pressured Indiana to go along too. Vice President JD Vance met with state politicians in Washington and Indianapolis, and Trump weighed in by conference call.
However, Indiana , one of the president鈥檚 first significant political defeats of his second term.
The redistricting fight divided Republicans in Indiana, a state Trump won three times by no less than 16 points. Braun, Banks and organizations such as Turning Point Action have worked alongside Trump to unseat the incumbents.
Jim Bopp, a prominent Indiana attorney who leads a political action committee aligned with Braun, predicted that Trump鈥檚 support would carry the day for the challengers.
鈥淩epublican voters overwhelmingly support Trump and when they find out Trump has endorsed a particular Senate candidate, they swing their support behind them,鈥� he said.
Voters had mixed views on Trump鈥檚 involvement
In Columbus, Ronda Millig voted for Trump-backed Michelle Davis over redistricting opponent Sen. Greg Walker. Davis won.
鈥淚 really believed some of the things I had heard about him,鈥� said Millig, a retiree. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 seem like he was someone I wanted in office.鈥�
But Milling did not say that Trump鈥檚 endorsement was the deciding factor.
鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 always mean anything,鈥� she said.
Madison Long, who is 28 and a lawyer, who also voted for Walker, criticizing Davis for her ties to Trump.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 have any promises of her own or any agenda of her own. Her goal is to just follow Trump,鈥� Long said. 鈥淚 find that extremely concerning given the nature of the nationwide politics.鈥�
Indiana opposition came from constituents, former governor
Former Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who had stepped away from politics after leaving the governorship in 2015, reemerged to help raise money for targeted incumbents.
The state senators who broke with Trump said they were listening to their constituents who were overwhelmingly against his redistricting proposal. Some said they didn鈥檛 like in pushing the plan.
鈥淲e hate to be told what to do,鈥� said Mike Murphy, a former Republican state representative. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very independent thinking people. So when Donald Trump and his goons come in and try to tell us that we need to redistrict to help his political future, that鈥檚 the worst thing you can do.鈥�
Bopp, who supported the Trump-backed challengers, said the primary was a chance for Indiana Republicans to express how important it is to redraw the congressional lines there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a matter of Trump鈥檚 power,鈥� Bopp said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about Republican primary voters who support his agenda and don鈥檛 want a Democratic House that will be hugely destructive to the Trump presidency and the country.鈥�
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An earlier version of this story was corrected to show a candidate鈥檚 last name is Fiechter, not Fletcher.
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