AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Indiana state Senator Mike Bohacek (R) publicly declared he will vote against President Donald Trump-backed redistricting efforts in his state as he raged against the president’s use of a slur Friday to insult Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D).
Bohacek, a Republican from Michiana whose daughter has Down syndrome, said Trump’s Friday remark – using the word “retard” – crossed a personal line. The president hurled the slur in a late-night anti-immigration tirade during which he branded the Democrat “seriously retarded.”
Taking to Facebook, the lawmaker warned that “words have consequences” and he would be voting “NO” on redistricting efforts until Trump could prove his “policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority”:
Screengrab via X
His break comes at a tense moment for Indiana Republicans, who are weighing whether to redraw the state’s congressional map just four years after completing the once-a-decade process. Trump has been urging GOP-led states to reengineer districts ahead of the 2026 midterms, hoping to secure a House majority that his advisers warn could slip away.
The pressure has grown unusually direct. House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to hold a Saturday conference call with Indiana House Republicans after insisting publicly he had no role in state-level efforts. Johnson has already phoned Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, whose caucus remains divided on whether to proceed.
Even with national figures leaning in, the Senate appears short of the votes needed, multiple Republicans familiar with the count told Politico Friday.
