President Donald Trump exacted revenge on Indiana Republican legislators who foiled his redistricting push last year in the state, successfully backing challengers who unseated five incumbents in Tuesday's primaries.
One other GOP state senator who faced a Trump-backed opponent was trailing in the vote, while another survived. The results underscore the influence Trump continues to wield over the Republican Party, even as his approval rating among Americans broadly sags amid rising gas prices and the Iran war.
Three of the incumbents who lost Tuesday were veterans of the Indiana Legislature. State Sen. Travis Holdman has served in the Senate since 2008 and is the third-most powerful Republican in the chamber. State Sen. Jim Buck, 80, has served as an Indiana lawmaker since 1994.
And state Sen. Greg Walker was set to retire last year after 20 years in the chamber, but reversed course amid the redistricting fight, where he notably broke down in tears speaking about his fear for the future of the party if the Legislature caved to Trump’s demands.
With Washington, D.C.’s mayoral primary days away, President Donald Trump suggested that the federal government could...
