Indiana State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, criticized the proposed House and congressional maps adopted Monday by the House Elections and Apportionment Committee in the Indiana House of Representatives.
Indiana Republicans unveiled proposed maps Sept. 14. The maps, if approved by the Indiana legislature and Gov. Eric Holcomb, would keep Bloomington in the IN-9 U.S. House district for the next decade.
“Today's adoption of the Indiana House and congressional maps by the House Elections and Apportionment Committee is the first step toward giving Statehouse Republicans an unfair, partisan advantage in upcoming elections,” Pierce said in a press release. “An advantage that will last through 2032.”
Pierce took issue with the proposed IN-5 district, which would make the district a safe Republican seat. The IN-5 was named a tossup election in 2020, and Republicans won the district in 2020 by the smallest margin since the last map went into effect in 2012.
“With 56% of the votes, the Republican gerrymander engineers 77% of the congressional seats for Republicans,” he said. “Most glaring is it takes a 5th District congressional seat that was becoming ever-more competitive and converts it into a safe Republican seat.”
Pierce, who is also a lecturer in IU’s Media School, represented the 3rd District on the Bloomington City Council in the late ‘90s before being elected as a state representative in 2002.
“It's not too late for the Republicans to do the right thing and adopt maps that fairly represent all Hoosiers,” he said in the release.
