Indiana Republicans who lost their jobs after bucking Trump have ‘zero regrets’

After a group of Indiana Republican lawmakers rejected their party’s redistricting plan last year, they were publicly ridiculed by President Donald Trump and received millions of dollars in negative ads, with several of them ultimately losing their jobs Tuesday.

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But three of those state senators told NBC News on Wednesday that they had no qualms about the vote that put them in the spotlight and led to their defeat by Trump-backed challengers.

“I have no regrets,” Sen. Greg Walker, a 20-year veteran of the chamber, said after losing to state Rep. Michelle Davis.

“No,” said Sen. Jim Buck, who at 80 has served in the Legislature for more than three decades, when asked if he regretted his vote against the new congressional map. “My constituency overwhelmingly told me to vote no, and that’s what I did.”

“I don’t regret it,” added Senator Linda Rogers. “I followed the wishes of my district.”

Walker, Buck and Rogers were among seven state Senate Republicans in Tuesday’s vote who faced Trump-backed primary opponents after opposing a proposed congressional map to give their party two additional seats. Lawmakers said voters in their districts overwhelmingly viewed the unusual mid-decade redistricting effort as unfair.

It was a rare rebuke from Trump, who had pressured them to adopt it as part of his broader campaign to enact new districts across the country to strengthen the Republican Party in the midterm elections.

Five of the seven candidates lost their primaries Tuesday, while another, Greg Goode, advanced to the general election. The other, Spencer Deery, led Trump-backed Paula Copenhaver by just three votes in a race that remained too close to call Wednesday.

In a text message to NBC News, Deery sounded a similar note to his colleagues regarding his redistricting vote.

“I will never regret listening to my constituents and doing the right thing,” he said.

Trump’s decision to get involved has energized Indiana’s generally overlooked legislative primary. According to ad tracking company AdImpact, about $12 million was spent on ads in the seven elections in which Trump-backed candidates ran against incumbent senators.

Dealing with an avalanche of negative publicity from outside groups allied with Trump sometimes seemed futile, the lawmakers said.

As he collected his now-defunct yard signs from his district after his loss to Tipton County Commission member Tracey Powell, Buck noted that about $1.3 million was spent on ads opposing him in his primary. By comparison, his campaign didn’t even reach $150,000 in ad spending, according to AdImpact.

“No matter how hard you try, perception becomes reality,” Buck said. “You lie enough times and it becomes the truth. »

Buck said the influx of money is the biggest change in his 18 years in the state Senate.

“Dark money has really become a problem to solve, but it’s the people who are starting to lose their voice, and that worries me,” he said. “It’s a rich man’s playground, and I’m sorry for that. I know I wouldn’t be able to run alone again like I did years ago.”

Rogers, who was defeated by Brian Schmutzler, said the offensive ads were relentless.

“I’m very fortunate that I was able to raise significant dollars, but it doesn’t compete with the millions that poured in and when they ran the same negative TV ads three, four times in an hour,” she said.

Buck, Rogers and Walker said they feared their primary defeats would send a signal to other lawmakers around the country that they wouldn’t be able to stand up to Trump if they felt it was in their states’ best interests.

“This is what our founders feared most: that Washington would suddenly feel like it had the right to dictate what states do,” Buck said.

Rogers said: “One person should not make all the decisions. »

Meanwhile, the mid-decade redistricting battle that these lawmakers pushed back against continued apace across the country. Eight states have passed new congressional maps in the past year. And a major ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court last week could pave the way for others to join them soon.

Walker said such efforts are a key issue in modern politics, both at the state and national level.

“This is how Congress functions or dysfunctions today. It’s the threat of primaries,” he said. “And you can’t do that unless you have hyper-partisan districts. You can’t accomplish this mission of threatening and coercing to comply with whatever the top leader says unless you create the structure for it.”