Roughly 1,000 Hoosiers came to the Indiana Statehouse on Sept. 18, 2025 to see former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speak. Following his tenure as a mayor in South Bend, Buttigieg also ran for president. Photos from Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Whitney Downard
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Roughly 1,000 Hoosiers crowded into the Indiana Statehouse Thursday, Sept. 18 afternoon to hear from former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who headlined a high-energy rally opposing mid-decade redistricting.

The former Democratic presidential candidate appeared alongside other state party leaders in the latest public demonstration, with attendees craning to see Buttigieg from three separate floors. Pres. Donald Trump has urged Hoosier Republicans to redraw congressional boundary lines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections in order to maintain a Republican majority.

“We are here because Indiana Republicans are being pressured by Washington (D.C.) Republicans to do something that they know in their hearts is wrong,” Buttigieg said, pausing between roaring cheers. “They are being pressured to change the rules so that voters don’t have a say anymore … and we know why they’re doing it, which is because the agenda of Washington Republicans is so unpopular that even here in Indiana, they’re afraid of losing.”

Posters throughout the crowd criticized the partisan maneuver, accusing Republicans of “cheating” to add seats by gerrymandering districts.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, said that mayors don’t have that option if their constituents disagree with their views.

“You’ve got to go in, get work done and stand before everybody in an election and be judged on your results,” Buttigieg said. “And that is how every election is supposed to work in the United States.”

The native Hoosier now lives with his family in Michigan.

Specifically, assembled Democrats picked at Trump’s priority legislation signed into law earlier this summer. That effort establishes work requirements for certain Medicaid recipients, cuts federal aid for food benefits and implements tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy. Other administrative actions — such as tariffs, targeting immigrants for deportation and discontinuing international food donations — have hurt farmers and small businesses who rely on foreign markets for labor or supplies.

“Even here in this so-called red state, those policies and those results are not a winning message. Those results aren’t working; those policies aren’t working,” said Buttigieg. “Where I grew up — which happens to be Indiana — if what you’re doing isn’t working, you rethink what you’re doing.

“But instead of changing their policies or trying to get better results, they decided to just try to change the map instead.”

‘A Racist Power Grab’

Democrats hold just two of Indiana’s nine congressional seats, located in deep-blue Marion County and the northwestern corner of Indiana near Chicago. Both are more racially and ethnically diverse than the rest of the state, potentially opening the door for legal challenges, though their minority voting populations are relatively small.

“We have to call this out for what it is: this is a racist power grab to silence voters who look like me,” said Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis. “… things feel really tough right now, but we stand on the shoulders of ancestors and freedom fighters who’ve been here before and who’ve done the work before, and so we need to follow their lead.”

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticizes Republican redistricting efforts at the Indiana Statehouse on Sept. 18, 2025. Following his tenure as a mayor in South Bend, Buttigieg also ran for president.

All seven of Indiana’s U.S. House Republicans have signaled their support, as has Sen. Jim Banks, who urged adopting maps with zero Democratic representation. Democrats reliably win 40% of the vote in statewide elections.

“They want the outcome of the election to be decided before you even get to go vote. They want this to be one of those countries where you don’t even have to wait for the results to know how the vote is going to turn out — and we have a word for that,” Buttigieg said.

Attendees chimed in with “unfair,” “undemocratic,” and “dictatorship,” to which Buttigieg responded, “Okay, we have a lot of words for that.

“But the word I’m going to go with is cheating,” he said.

A left-leaning pollster found that the majority of Hoosiers, regardless of party affiliation, opposed redistricting outside of the traditional ten-year cycle.

Gov. Mike Braun said this week that a special session is likely to be called for November and other topics could also be addressed. Braun hinted that the state could risk its status with the Trump administration if it doesn’t comply.

Some politicians have openly wondered if Braun and other Republican leaders couldn’t rally enough GOP support for a one-topic session.

“They’re hesitating, even with all the pressure coming their way from Washington,” Buttigieg said. “A lot of them haven’t quite committed to doing the deed.”

He urged those assembled to reach out to not only their representatives, but also encourage their conservative family members to also contact their elected officials.

“We need to prove something that I was taught growing up in this state, which is that cheaters never win in the end,” Buttigieg concluded. “And that means we’re working harder to make sure we get new and better leadership, even when it’s uphill — especially when it’s uphill.”

Because Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers, Democrats can’t prevent new maps through the legislative process. Voting rights groups have vowed to sue if the state adopts new districts.