Indiana
| Redistricting Process: Legislative | Population Change (since 2000): 403,317 |
| Legislature: Republican | Seats: 9 |
| Governor: Mike Pence | Members of Congress: 7R, 2D |
| Party Control: Republican | 2012: 43.8% Obama, 54.3% Romney |
Map Instructions:
Three maps are available for each state. Each has new district outlines in bold.
Click on each district on the map to see more information.
Click the arrow button to switch between districts that are close together.
New Districts by Party Representation
Redistricting Analysis: Indiana Holds on to Nine Seats
Indiana’s population growth between 2000 and 2010 was only slightly lower than that of the United States in general. The state’s population grew by 6.6% over the course of the decade, in comparison to the United States’ 9.7% population growth. Accordingly, Indiana’s ideal district population grew from 677,396 to 744,466. This growth, however, was not enough to merit an additional seat in Congress, and as such, Indiana will continue to have nine seats in Congress through 2020.
Indiana’s growth comes primarily from increases in its Caucasian and Hispanic populations, which are responsible for 36.6% and 43.4% of the total increase in Indiana’s population, respectively. Indiana’s population growth has been concentrated mainly in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, with Hancock, Hendricks, and Boone Counties experiencing over 20% population growth. By contrast, rural counties have experienced some moderate population decline, though not as severe as in other states. The majority of Indiana’s rural counties have had a decrease in population of under 5%.
Redistricting Process
The Indiana General Assembly is responsible for redistricting. If the General Assembly fails to complete a plan in time a special Redistricting Commission takes over. Initially, the State Senate and State House appoint members to a standing Committee on Elections and a Committee on Elections and Apportionment, respectively. If these committees fail to agree on a set of maps before the General Assembly adjourns in April, then a separate, five-person commission completes the redistricting process. For the 2010 redistricting process, the deadline for the General Assembly to adopt new Congressional maps was April 29, 2011. Republicans dominated the 2011 redistricting process in Indiana, with 7 of 10 Republican members on the Senate Committee, and 7 of 12 members on the House Committee.
Both the House and the Senate Committees released a set of proposed lines for Congressional districts on April 11, 2011. Both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly approved their respective committee’s proposed maps on April 20 on largely party-line votes. Despite the similarities in both chambers’ proposed districts, the rules of the Indiana General Assembly meant that either the House or the Senate plan had to receive concurrence from the other chamber before moving on to the governor’s office for approval. On April 28 – the day before the Constitutionally-mandated deadline to approve new maps – the House voted 62-31 to send the Senate’s proposed Congressional map to Governor Mitch Daniels (R), who signed it into law on May 10, 2011.
First District
The Indiana First is located at the state’s northwestern corner. It is bordered by Illinois on the west, and by the Lake Michigan coastline to the north. The First includes much of the Gary Metropolitan area, and is made up of Lake, Porter, and western portions of LaPorte County. Formerly, the First stretched further south, occupying Newton, Jasper, and Benton Counties as well. The redistricting process removed these counties in favor of adding portions of LaPorte County.
The First is a solidly Democratic district, having been represented by a Democrat in the House of Representatives since 1930. Democrat Pete Visclosky has represented the First since 1985, and has won the majority of his reelection bids with a large double-digit margin. The First is characterized by its large population of Chicago commuters.
Second District
The Indiana Second is located directly east of the first, and runs from the state’s northern border with Michigan to the Wabash Metropolitan area. It is anchored by the cities of South Bend, Plymouth, Rochester, and Wabash. Prior to redistricting, the Second extended further south, formerly reaching down to Carroll and Cass Counties, with a small arm towards the city of Kokomo. The new Second has abandoned this southern stretch in favor of a more rectangular shape, with a southern border formed by Pulaski, Fulton, Miami, and Wabash Counties.
The political profile of the district changed drastically after the redistricting process, losing the Democratic strongholds of Kokomo and LaPorte County in return for the more conservative rural, northern counties.
Third District
The Indiana Third is in the state’s northeastern corner, and runs along the state’s borders with Michigan and Ohio. The Third is anchored primarily by the cities of Fort Wayne, Angola, and Portland, with a small western extension towards the city of Warsaw. In contrast to the First and the Second, the Third has adopted a more southerly approach after redistricting, leaving aside territory in Elkhart and Kosciusko Counties in favor of the addition of Huntington, Wells, Jay, Adams, and a portion of Blackford County instead.
Republicans have represented the Third since it was first created in its current iteration in 2003, and the addition solidifies their hold.
Fourth District
The Indiana Fourth is located in west-central Indiana, running from the state’s border with Illinois towards the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The Fourth runs by the Jasper Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in the north, the city of Kokomo in the east, and the city of Danville in the south. The Fourth is significantly more compact after the 2011 redistricting process – the district formerly reached from White County and the city of Lafayette in the north towards the city of Bedford in the south, all while neatly avoiding Indianapolis entirely.
Fifth District
The Fifth is located in central Indiana, starting at the northern border of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area, and moving up towards Gas City. The district incorporates much of Indianapolis’s northern suburban area – making the Fifth far smaller than much of the other districts in Indiana. As with the Fourth, the Fifth is significantly more compact after redistricting, reaching from Huntington and Marion in the north to Shelbyville in the south, neatly circumventing the entire Indianapolis metropolitan area.
Sixth District
The Indiana Sixth occupies the state’s southeastern corner, rimmed by the Ohio border to the east and the Ohio River to the south. It is edged by the cities of Columbus to the west, Muncie to the north, and Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge in the south. The Sixth formerly reached further north, and also included a western arm towards Johnson and Shelby Counties.
Seventh District
The Indiana Seventh is notable in that it is comprised almost entirely of the Indianapolis metropolitan area and Marion County. The northern border follows a number of metropolitan streets and highways in and around Indianapolis, with a litany of miniscule, multi-block extensions along the border. The Seventh formerly was centered more on Indianapolis, with a ten-mile radius around the city center. By contrast, the new Seventh has moved southwards to occupy more of southern Marion County.
Eighth District
The Eighth is located in Indiana’s southwestern corner, ranging from the state’s borders with Kentucky and Illinois and moving north towards and the cities of Terre Haute and Spencer. Clinton and Rockville edge the district in the north, Spencer and the Martin State Forest in the east, and the Ohio River in the south. Before the 2011 redistricting process, the district was much narrower, extending further north north to Warren County, and not including the southern Dubois, Spencer, and Perry Counties.
Ninth District
The Indiana Ninth reaches from the southern borders of the Indianapolis metropolitan area towards the Ohio River in the south. The district is anchored by the cities of New Albany, Bedford, and Franklin, as well as the Brown County State Park. Previously, the Ninth occupied much more of the state’s southern region, including much of the land 30 miles north of the Ohio River. The new Ninth District has abandoned this territory in favor of a more vertical shape, reaching up towards Morgan and Johnson Counties instead.
2010 Redistricting Changes:
Old Districts by Partisan Voting Index with New District Outlines
Old Districts by Party Representation with New District Outlines