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Indiana’s Tuesday primary offered a vivid measure of Trump’s influence inside the Republican Party, as challengers backed by President Donald Trump beat most of the lawmakers he had tried to dislodge after they supported Indiana’s redistricting. The contests also sharpened a question some Republicans are asking as the midterm election year advances: whether winning at the primary stage helps in November or whether the intraparty battles drain time and resources better spent defending seats in Washington.
Ahead of the next set of high-stakes Republican primaries, some party strategists argued that the spending and campaigning directed at fellow Republicans could come at a cost. Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist who has been critical of the president, said, “Every dollar going toward keeping seats we already have, and not winning ones we don’t, really matters,” capturing a view that intraparty conflict may divert attention from the broader general-election fight.
Despite that concern, the Indiana outcomes appeared to raise confidence among Trump allies that pressure tactics can pay off in other states. In the aftermath of the vote, Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist, wrote on social media: “Redistrict ASAP for the November election or you face a real risk of losing your seat. No excuses,” adding, “Reschedule primaries if you must but redraw the map. Voters demand action NOW, not weakness.”
Indiana state Sen. Linda Rogers, one of the lawmakers who opposed redistricting and lost her seat in the primary, said she expected the result to affect other legislators who might consider defying Trump. Rogers said the outcome of this week’s primary “will probably discourage others in other states,” and she warned that lawmakers deciding how to vote under pressure may weigh “your conscience and what’s best for your community” against “what’s best for you and your career.”
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, who sided with Trump, called the primary results a “historic night” and thanked Republican voters who “stood with me and President Trump to nominate some great America First conservatives.” The AP report described the race outcomes as part of a deeper effort that began after the Indiana Senate rejected the redistricting plan in December, when Trump pledged to punish lawmakers he viewed as defiant.
The redistricting fight gained traction after Trump’s allies poured money into races that typically draw limited spending, and one lawmaker described the approach as both political and personal. Andy Zay, a state senator who voted for redistricting, resigned in January to become chair of a state utility commission; he later said harassment and threats in the months before the vote made it harder for incumbents to survive the primary contests under heavy spending and direct presidential influence. “Trump matters and money matters,” Zay said.
Five of Trump’s targets lost their races, one won, and one race was too close to call, according to the report. The results, in turn, helped set expectations for the next phase of Trump-backed challenges aimed at members of Congress who have frustrated the president, including U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Massie has been among the congressional Republicans who have challenged Trump on several fronts, including efforts tied to the release of Jeffrey Epstein case files, and he has also pressed for congressional action over a U.S. military move in Iran. He has spoken about his voting record as well, telling Kentucky’s PBS affiliate that he votes with the president and the Republican Party “90% of the time,” while explaining that the remaining time he is focused on “keeping the promises that the president and I campaigned on,” according to the AP report. Massie’s position on Trump’s domestic spending priorities has also been part of the political fight, with the report citing his explanation for voting against the president’s signature bill as “a big spending bill,” and saying he has voted consistently “not to bankrupt this country.”
Trump has endorsed Massie’s challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and campaigned for him before the May 19 primary. In Louisiana, Trump backs Rep. Julie Letlow over Cassidy in the May 16 primary, which also includes a third candidate, state Treasurer John Fleming. Cassidy, described in the report as among the GOP senators who voted to convict Trump on 2021 impeachment charges after the Jan. 6 riot, has supported Trump in other ways as well, including advancing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as health secretary.
As these federal primaries approach, the report said Cassidy is campaigning aggressively against Trump’s chosen candidate without mentioning Trump in his attacks on Letlow. Cassidy campaign manager Katie Larkin said in a statement: “Sen. Cassidy is running like he’s 10 points down and is pounding the pavement every day,” while former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., warned in comments shared with Fox & Friends that Massie’s history shows he can win without Trump’s direct backing but noted that it is “not an ideal situation for any Republican to run without Trump’s backing.”
The Indiana races also illustrated how redistricting battles have accelerated in the wake of broader legal and political shifts. The report said redistricting efforts were supercharged last week after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a provision of the Voting Rights Act that has influenced how political lines are drawn in areas with large nonwhite populations. It described Alabama and Tennessee already holding special sessions that could limit Black voters’ strength in Democratic-leaning districts, and noted that some allies in South Carolina are looking to follow suit, increasing pressure on Republicans in other states to redraw district boundaries this year.
Even in defeat, Rogers said she does not regret her vote against redistricting, saying it would have been “easy for me to hit that ‘yes’ button.” She added that she heard from people who asked her not to support the plan, and she also said she received thanks from those who wanted her to represent them rather than choose a career calculus.