Candidates for Indiana state senate speak following President Trump endorsement

GRANGER, Ind. -- President Trump has both called out and supported some Indiana state legislators on Truth Social this week.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump called incumbent state senator Linda Rogers a “RINO” while endorsing another republican, Dr. Brian Schmutzler, for Indiana’s 11th state senate district in Granger.

In late 2025, Indiana state legislators were discussing and voting on a controversial bill to redraw congressional maps as part of a nationwide effort by both republicans and democrats to gain extra seats before midterms.  

The president said last year that he’d endorse primary challengers for Indiana lawmakers who did not support the mid-cycle redistricting push, which ultimately failed in the Senate.  

Elizabeth Bennion, PhD, Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science at IUSB, says political parties have always tried to enforce party discipline, and this is an attempt to enforce it.

“What's changed now is really the nationalization of state and local politics, where we are seeing local politicians at the state level be used to send national signals regarding party discipline and who is a real republican, and this is separated in many cases from the person's overall voting record,” said Bennion.

She says this isn’t really about redistricting.

“It's about signaling the need for party discipline in the future, and it is about carrying through and making an example of select senate republicans in order to try to enforce that party discipline and penalize those who did not stand with the president,” said Bennion.

In President Trump's post, he said State Sen. Linda Rogers “failed the wonderful people of Indiana so badly”.

Rogers voted against the redistricting effort last year.

“One of the things we see also that's notable in the case of somebody like Linda Rogers is that all of the issues the President mentioned in his social media post are issues on which Senator Rogers has a clear conservative voting record. If we're talking about school choice or tax cuts or gun legislation, all of these issues, immigration enforcement, she has voted in the way that the President says she should vote. So this isn't really even about her voting record. It is simply carrying through on that promise to put up challengers against those who voted no,” said Bennion.

ABC57’s Jordan Tolbert asked Rogers about her initial reaction to the President’s post.

“I expected it. I knew that he was going to do that, you know, at some time. Because during the time that we were discussing redistricting, I had gotten a lot of texts, phone calls, threats —that if I didn't vote yes, that they would primary me, and President Trump would support my opponent. So I certainly wasn't surprised. I still support President Trump. Don't agree with everything he does, but I still support him. I'm not upset with him about doing this at all,” said Rogers.

Rogers says she heard from thousands of people in her district and all over the state–overwhelmingly asking her to vote no.

“But what really reinforced that was when the maps came out, the maps were so problematic, they divided Elkhart County. North and South were Congressman Yakym’s district, and the center part was Congressman Stutzman's district. And so, the community of Elkhart was not happy at all. And so I heard from so many of my really great Republican friends, people from the district that said, ‘Please, please vote no, we don't want to be split, and we don't want a chance of losing our great congressmen,’” said Rogers.

Rogers also addressed what she called a ‘rumor’ related to the redistricting vote.

“There's a rumor that Rudy called me and told me to vote no. It is a rumor. It is false. He not once called me during redistricting, nor did I call him. My vote was based on the people of the community, and the problematic maps is what really turned the tables, and I'm not going to resort to being intimidated or to being threatened,” said Rogers.

In President Trump’s post, he also endorsed Republican Dr. Brian Schmutzler for Indiana’s Senate District 11, calling him a “MAGA warrior and REAL Republican.”

ABC57’s Jordan Tolbert spoke with Schmutzler about the endorsement. He says the president’s team reached out to him.

“I'm really honored to receive President Trump's endorsement. I think he realizes, as many Hoosiers that I talk to every day, that we need good conservative voices in the state senate. We just don't have it right now,” said Schmutzler.

Dr. Schmutzler was also recently endorsed by Turning Point Action and was featured in a post that mentions a warning issued in December to GOP legislators in the Indiana State Senate who “refused to pass the redistricting plan.”

“The redistricting vote was a huge missed opportunity for us as a republican party, and for us here in Indiana,” said Schmutzler.

ABC57’s Jordan Tolbert asked Schmutzler how he would have voted on mid-cycle redistricting in Indiana last year.

“I definitely would have voted for the redistricting. And we, as republicans here in Indiana, need to stop fighting with our hands tied behind our back. You know, we had the chance to get two more republicans into the House, and I believe that was the right thing to do. And I've been knocking 1000s of doors, 2500+ doors, and I hear overwhelmingly, 85, 90 percent of people were in favor of the redistricting,” said Schmutzler.

In October 2025, Independent Indiana conducted a poll through North Star Opinion Research, finding that among registered voters in Indiana, a majority–53 percent–opposed the proposal to redraw Indiana's congressional districts, while 34 percent supported it.