Jackson condemns House passage of Republicans’ racially gerrymanded congressional map

Today, Dec. 5, Indiana House Republicans passed House Bill 1032, their gerrymandered congressional map, after months of pressure from Washington D.C. The map carves up like-minded communities to give the Republican party an advantage in Indiana’s congressional elections. HB 1032 heads to the Senate for their consideration next week. 

State Rep. Carolyn Jackson (D-Hammond), Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Elections and Apportionment, released the following statement: 

“The precedent this sets moving forward is that redrawing our congressional map is simply a free for all. Whoever is in power can do whatever they want to make sure they stay in power. This will cause irreparable harm to public trust in the ability of our government to act out of anything but self-interest. 

“All week, my colleagues in the Democratic caucus have been fighting to get the Republican supermajority to acknowledge that Hoosiers need help with the real issues they face. We have put forth proposals to make child care, health care, housing, utilities and groceries more affordable. Time after time, Republicans shut down our proposals to discuss partisan gerrymandering that nobody asked for. This proposed map was not made for the benefit of Hoosiers. The author of the bill openly admitted over and over that this map was drawn by D.C. insiders purely to give one party a political advantage. 

“Our community in Lake County, one of the most diverse communities in the state, has been deliberately targeted partially because of that diversity. Breaking up our congressional district is a direct attempt to dilute the voting power and silence the voices of the Hoosiers I represent. I am ashamed of the action taken by the Indiana House of Representatives today.”