Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, introduces his congressional redistricting bill during committee on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — The author of Indiana’s new congressional redistricting bill acknowledged the maps are “politically gerrymandered” during committee questioning Tuesday, Dec. 2 but defended the proposal against accusations of illegal racial gerrymandering.

The maps, released Monday, Dec. 1 morning, were drawn “purely for political performance” of Republicans, Rep. Ben Smaltz told indignant Democratic colleagues.

The current districts, drawn by the GOP in 2021, are 7-2 in favor of Republicans. The House and Senate GOP worked with the National Republican Redistricting Trust to engineer a likely 9-0 sweep of the districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

“They’re politically gerrymandered, if you’d like to say that,” Smaltz, R-Auburn, said.

He was adamant that no racial information was used in crafting House Bill 1032.

Hoosiers stream into the House chamber for the body’s only public hearing for a congressional redistricting bill on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. The maps were released the morning before, and the hearing was scheduled that afternoon.

The targeted districts now held by Democratic Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan are by far Indiana’s most racially diverse. The maps split Carson’s district, which largely overlaps Marion County borders, four ways, and halves Mrvan’s.

“You’re okay with … racially gerrymandered maps if you get your desired outcome for … politically gerrymandered maps?” asked Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis.

“We didn’t look at that, at any of that,” Smaltz replied.

He faced more than an hour of intense questioning from Democrats on the House Elections and Apportionment Committee on Tuesday, Dec. 2, which also featured ominous testimony from Marion County’s elections chief and a prominent Republican.

It was the House’s only hearing on the maps, held with less than a day of notice. A committee vote is expected sometime today.

‘Chaos’ Incoming, Clerk Says

Local election officials typically have a year before an election to make redistricting-related adjustments, Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell told the committee.

If approved next week as planned, clerks would have just four months before the Tuesday, May 5 primary election.

She detailed the complex updates required to reassign the likely hundreds of thousands of impacted Indianapolis voters, retrain thousands of poll workers, update public communications and more – all on a smaller budget.

Precinct splits backed into the bill present further “administrative burden.”

“If any of this is done incorrectly, voters are going to feel the impact when they come to vote,” the clerk said.

She urged lawmakers to reject the proposal, adding, “If it passes, there will be chaos. Chaos in clerk’s offices around the state. Chaos when candidates file at the election board. … That’s exactly what election administrators want to avoid.”

The bill includes more than maps. Opponents have vowed to challenge the approved version, although they’re still assembling their legal strategies.

It expressly legalizes mid-census redistricting, and allows precincts to be split between congressional districts for just the 2026 election cycle.

More than 20 witnesses spoke in opposition to the proposal by mid-day, including retired Ivy Tech Community College President Sue Ellspermann. The Republican previously served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Mike Pence, and as a House lawmaker.

Retired Ivy Tech Community College President Sue Ellspermann, a Republican, testifies against mid-census redistricting during a House committee hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

“We have fair maps. The ones we have performed – some might say over-performed – for the Republican majority,” she said. “The plea to redraw Indiana’s map is coming out of Washington, D.C. Some may argue that they have the right to ask, and in that case, we certainly have the right to answer, ‘No.’”

She reminded lawmakers – including former colleagues amid 2011 redistricting – that they pledged to “serve all Hoosiers, not just those who voted for us or the current president” in their oath of office.

Hoosiers “have a reputation for standing up to political pressure,” Ellspermann added, lauding Pence for his refusal to overturn the 2020 election.

Just two witnesses had spoken in favor of the maps by midday: Allen County resident Paul Logemann, who is a lobbyist with D.C.-based Heritage Action, and Marion County resident Nathan Roberts.

Logemann pushed legislators to advance the maps, saying they “reflect the will of Hoosiers and ensure that Hoosier voices are not diluted in Congress.”

California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Utah have already heeded – or countered – Pres. Donald Trump’s call for more GOP U.S. House seats.

This story will be updated.