After Republicans blocked Indiana redistricting, millions poured in to defeat them

Indiana state Sen. Spencer Deery rides his electric scooter to canvass neighborhoods in his district on April 28 ahead of Indiana's primary election. Tamara Keith/NPR

Tamara Keith/NPR

It was a rare political defeat for Trump at the hands of his own party. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said those Republicans should be ashamed of themselves and "every one of these people should be primaried."

It wasn't an idle threat.

A Trump-aligned dark money group funneled $1.5 million to an organization running TV ads against the incumbents in Indiana. And that ended up being just the beginning.

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In all, according to a tally from AdImpact, nearly $7 million has been spent on TV ads this year in Indiana state senate races, the bulk of it aimed at defeating the Republicans who voted against the redrawn congressional maps.

"It's an all-in campaign to support the challengers to give them, I think a very good chance of winning and being the new senators," said David McIntosh, a former congressman from Indiana and president of The Club for Growth, which is spending an additional roughly $2 million in the state, mostly on mailers.

The primary is Tuesday, and the results will be a test of Trump's power of political retribution.

"This was a top political priority of President Trump's and [he] was very clear about that," said Marty Obst, a long-time Republican political consultant in Indiana, who led the redistricting push. "And the bottom line is there's consequences and accountability to those actions."

Indiana state senate hopeful Paula Copenhaver stands with supporters at a Turning Point USA event April 18. Copenhaver is challenging incumbent state Sen. Spencer Deery and has President Trump's endorsement. Ben Thorp/WFYI

Ben Thorp/WFYI

Obst is now working to deliver those consequences. He says several outside groups aligned with the president worked with Trump's political team to recruit the seven challengers and are throwing big money behind the effort to get them elected.

"They've been highly engaged in Indiana and both directly and indirectly have put together a robust political operation," said Obst.

Paula Copenhaver, state Sen. Spencer Deery's Trump-backed challenger, told WFYI's Ben Thorp that she got a call from one of the president's political advisors in January. By early March, she and the other challengers were in the Oval Office at the White House posing for photos with the president.

"To meet him, to shake his hand, to have a conversation with him and realize how genuine and authentic of a real person that he is," said Copenhaver, "it is truly humbling. And to know that he is looking at a state senate race."

It was truly an honor to meet with President Trump and to shake his hand. He’s fighting for the American people, and I’m proud to have his Complete and Total endorsement. I’ll always fight to put Hoosiers first — and I won’t let you down. pic.twitter.com/jQj7wxEOM2

— Paula Copenhaver for Indiana (@PaulaCopenhaver) March 9, 2026

Copenhaver says her race is about more than retribution. It's about doing what's right for the state — and the country — when called to do so.

"By not redistricting, voting to redistrict for the state of Indiana, when we have an opportunity to do good and we don't, then that is a grave concern for me," she said.

Jim Buck has served in the Indiana state senate for 18 years and says what's happening now is unprecedented.

"We've never had Washington meddle into our elections like they have this time," Buck said. "I spent $150,000 here. That was big money."

That big money seems like pocket change this election cycle.

"Now I've got over $1,000,000 against me in one race," he added.

Indiana state Sen. Jim Buck has served in the state senate for 18 years. He's facing the toughest re-election of his career after voting against redistricting and facing political consequences brought by President Trump and his allies. Tamara Keith/NPR

Tamara Keith/NPR

He didn't think drawing new congressional lines was right for Indiana, and stuck with his principles at great cost politically.

He says he was warned by members of the state's congressional delegation.

"They said 'Jim, they're going to come at you with everything possible, they're going to try to destroy your name, destroy your reputation and they're going to bring money you wouldn't imagine,'" recalled Buck. "Well, they were right."

Buck laughs, and moves on to the next house, campaigning door to door as he has done so many times before.

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At a house with windchimes out front, he meets Pat Murphy, who asks what Buck thinks of the president.

"I worked my fanny off for him in '16, '20 and '24," Buck said. "I like a lot of the things he's doing. I don't like how he's meddling in the state's business on redistricting."

Murphy tells Buck he's "out on" Trump. "I was in on him, but I'm out on him." The conversation quickly moves on to toll roads and the Ten Commandments.

Former President Ronald Reagan is known for citing an eleventh commandment, "thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican."

But for President Trump, there's a different rule for Republicans: don't cross him, or you'll face the consequences.

A political advisor to president Trump, not authorized to speak on the record, said the incumbents are headed to their "political slaughter" and there's plenty of campaign cash to both send a message in Indiana and defend Republican majorities in the House and Senate in the midterms this fall.

Deery, who was first elected to Indiana's 23rd senate district in 2022, says he knew a primary challenge was a possibility when he voted against redistricting, but having the full weight of the president's political machine bearing down on him and the other incumbents, is not an experience he could have imagined.

Indiana state Sen. Spencer Deery waits to speak to a voter as he goes door-to-door campaigning for re-election ahead of Indiana's primary where he faces a President Trump-backed challenger and millions spent to defeat him and other Republicans who voted against redistricting in the state. Tamara Keith/NPR

Tamara Keith/NPR

Campaigning outside an early voting location, Deery says he barely has to introduce himself to the voters anymore because his face is so ubiquitous in the never-ending negative campaign ads. Several people walking up to the polling place recognize him immediately. Some give him a cold stare, others praise him for pushing back on redistricting.

"I've never voted for a Republican, except one time, but I went and voted for you because of all the negative ads against you," voter Bharat Bhargava tells him unprompted.

But Deery isn't some anti-Trump resistance figure. He just found himself on the wrong side of one issue. He thinks the top three issues in this campaign are affordability, affordability and affordability. But this race is now about power.

"What is being set up here is the potential model for any party to raise ridiculous amounts of money in DC and then to use that to try to control the states," said Deery. "That undermines the constitution without a law. It undermines the 10th amendment and the ability of states to make their own decisions."

State's rights is a core conservative principle.

"Let's leave right and wrong out of it for a minute," said Mitch Daniels, a former Republican governor of Indiana, who came out early against the redistricting push. "I just think it's dumb."

"They're spending all this money just to feel better that they whacked somebody that didn't kowtow," he said "Leave out the right and wrong. It's just not very smart."