COLUMBUS, Ind. — A majority of Republican Indiana state senators whose opponents were endorsed by President Donald Trump lost in Tuesday’s Republican primary races, a display of Trump’s influence over the party after state lawmakers rejected his redistricting plan five months ago.

The AP reported that seven challengers endorsed by Trump entered the Indiana Senate primaries, and that at least five won—while one incumbent prevailed and the seventh contest was too close to call. U.S. Sen. Jim Banks posted to social media, calling it “Big night for MAGA in Indiana,” and wrote that he was “proud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the Indiana State Senate.”

The Indiana results also highlighted the scale of the intraparty fight. The president’s allies spent at least $8.3 million on the races, which rarely draw attention from Washington, the AP said. The battle has exacerbated tensions among Republicans as the party heads into the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Among the incumbent setbacks, State Sen. Travis Holdman, who voted against redistricting, said he was “at peace” after losing his primary. The AP reported that Holdman faced more than $1.3 million in attack advertising funded by organizations tied to Banks and Gov. Mike Braun, and quoted him saying: “I did what my constituents asked me to do and it cost me my job. But that’s OK.”

Holdman also warned that a more aggressive style of campaigning was arriving in Indiana. He said, “Welcome to D.C. politics in Indiana because this means that’s what’s coming,” according to the AP report.

The race that remained too close to call, the AP said, was also the most expensive among the seven primaries. Super PACs led by Banks and Braun spent more than $2.2 million on advertising attacking Sen. Spencer Deery, AdImpact reported, while Deery spent roughly $815,000. The AP said Deery had spent a combined $142,000 on the 2022 primary and general election after first being elected.

The primary fight grew out of Trump’s push for redistricting. The AP reported that Trump began leaning on Republican-led states last year to redraw congressional maps to make it easier for his party to hold its thin majority in the U.S. House, and wanted to depart from the usual once-a-decade approach. The report said Texas moved first, and that the White House pressured Indiana to follow; the AP said Vice President JD Vance met with state politicians in Washington and Indianapolis and that Trump also weighed in by conference call.

After Indiana senators rejected the redistricting effort, the AP described the controversy as one of Trump’s first significant political defeats of his second term. The fight then split Republicans in Indiana, a state Trump won three times by margins of at least 16 points, the report said. Braun, Banks and groups such as Turning Point Action worked to unseat incumbents, according to the AP.

Jim Bopp, a prominent Indiana attorney who leads a political action committee aligned with Braun, predicted Trump’s support would prevail in the challengers’ favor. The AP reported that Bopp said, “Republican voters overwhelmingly support Trump and when they find out Trump has endorsed a particular Senate candidate, they swing their support behind them.”

Other voters described Trump’s role as less determinative. In Columbus, Ronda Millig voted for Trump-backed Michelle Davis over redistricting opponent Sen. Greg Walker, the AP reported. Millig, a retiree, said: “I really believed some of the things I had heard about him,” and that “It didn’t seem like he was someone I wanted in office,” while adding, “That doesn’t always mean anything,” about whether Trump’s endorsement was decisive.

Madison Long, 28, who voted for Walker, criticized Davis for ties to Trump. The AP reported Long saying: “She doesn’t have any promises of her own or any agenda of her own. Her goal is to just follow Trump,” and that she found that “extremely concerning given the nature of the nationwide politics.”

Indiana’s opposition to Trump’s redistricting effort, the AP said, included former Gov. Mitch Daniels, who returned to help raise money for targeted incumbents. It also said some senators who broke with Trump described listening to constituents opposed to the redistricting proposal and cited concerns about Trump’s tone.

Mike Murphy, a former Republican state representative, argued against being told what to do. The AP reported him saying: “We hate to be told what to do,” and adding, “We’re 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’s the worst thing you can do.”

Bopp said the primary was a chance for Indiana Republicans to express support for redrawing the congressional lines. The AP reported him saying: “It’s not a matter of Trump’s power. It’s about Republican primary voters who support his agenda and don’t want a Democratic House that will be hugely destructive to the Trump presidency and the country.”

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