Five Republican incumbents in the Indiana State Senate lost their seats in Tuesday’s primary after President Donald Trump backed a slate of challengers to punish those who blocked his preferred redistricting maps.
A majority of the seven senators targeted by the president failed to secure their party’s nomination, marking a significant shift in the state’s political landscape.
The primary results serve as a concrete measure of the president’s influence within the GOP, even as national challenges like rising fuel costs and the conflict in Iran impact his broader polling.
The intervention turned typically quiet local races into high-stakes national battles, with the ad-tracking firm AdImpact reporting roughly $12 million in spending across the contested seats. Much of that funding originated from outside groups aligned with the president.
The friction began last year when the Republican-led Indiana Senate rejected a congressional map pushed by the White House. That map was designed to net the GOP two additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. While other Republican states complied with similar requests, Indiana’s legislative leaders provided a rare rebuke. Six months later, the political price for that decision became clear.
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“Big night for MAGA in Indiana. Proud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the Indiana State Senate,” U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., posted on X. Banks’ aligned groups were instrumental in the spending blitz that preceded the vote.
Among the highest-profile upsets was State Sen. Travis Holdman, a veteran legislator since 2008 and a top-ranking Republican. He was unseated by real estate agent Blake Fiechter. Fiechter had briefly exited the race in February due to a lack of funds but rejoined after a visit to the White House in March.
Other veterans fell as well. State Sen. Jim Buck, 80, who had served in the legislature since 1994, lost to Tipton County Commissioner Tracey Powell.
Buck had the endorsement of former Vice President and Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Meanwhile, State Sen. Greg Walker, who famously grew emotional during the redistricting debate while warning against the party’s direction, lost to State Rep. Michelle Davis.
The purge continued with State Sen. Linda Rogers losing to anesthesiologist Dr. Brian Schmutzler, and State Sen. Dan Dernulc being defeated by insurance broker Trevor De Vries. In an open race to replace retiring Sen. Eric Bassler—who also opposed the map—Trump-backed former Rep. Jeff Ellington secured the win.
Not every target was unseated. State Sen. Greg Goode managed to win his primary against Brenda Wilson despite White House efforts to consolidate the opposition against him.
Additionally, the race for State Sen. Spencer Deery’s seat remains a dead heat; Deery led challenger Paula Copenhaver by just three votes late Tuesday night in a contest that saw $3 million in local advertising. One other senator who opposed the redistricting, Rick Niemeyer, did not face a Trump-backed challenger and remains on the ballot.
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