The bruising Statehouse fight over Indiana congressional redistricting is looming over the formal start of the legislative campaign season.
Indiana’s month-long candidate filing period opened Wednesday — with Republican senators who opposed redrawing the maps braced for primary challengers and Democrats believing the issue will boost their chances to break the GOP’s supermajority hold on the Legislature.
Democrats expressed enthusiasm for their chances this election cycle, with about two dozen joining in a mass-filing effort at the Statehouse for legislative seats organized by the Indiana Rural Summit Coalition.
Michelle Higgs, the coalition founder who was the 2024 Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Peggy Mayfield of Martinsville, said the candidates would share technology and research in order to help their campaigns.
“We showed up at the Statehouse to lend our voices that redistricting was a power grab to remove power from the people,” Higgs said. “It will be part of every candidate’s campaign to bring power back to the people.”
A top goal of Democrats in 2026 is to pick up the four Indiana House seats they need to break the Republican two-thirds supermajority that allows them to take action even without Democrats being present.
