Tender Cuts of The Heartland - Tom LoBianco Reports, Ep. 3
Before the White House can carve more Republicans from Ruby Red Indiana, its softening up Indiana's state lawmakers. Join me at Noon ET for the next episode of Tom LoBianco Reports.
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Welcome to the third episode of Tom LoBianco Reports, a new show from 24sight News and our friends at
. Every day, Monday through Friday, tune in here on Substack at Noon ET for a chat (usually) about the most pressing issues and (occasionally) about some lighter fare.Talk is cheap and opinions aplenty, but the story only reveals itself through reporting.
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, we’ll dive down the late-night, screen-glazed rabbit hole of the modern interwebs, acting as your personal guide to what’s real and what’s complete bullshit.If you want to join live, you can tune in every day on Substack. If you miss me, then hop on over to The Political Voices Network for the evening replay. If you’ve got questions or comments, just reply to this email and I’ll see it.
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Coming up on today’s show:
The Top: The Tenderloin of Representation
The state sandwich of Indiana is the pork tenderloin.
If you’re ever out there, head to the Mug ‘n’ Bun for one of its famous tenderloin sandwiches — with the fried pork cut practically exploding out from under the bun.
In order to get that signature sandwich, chefs tenderize the pork, smashing it with a kitchen torture device, but then dress it up in flour, buttermilk and eggs and all manner of proprietary seasoning blends. (No less than Guy Fieri made the pitstop at Indy’s tenderloin and root beer flavor town years ago, out in the town of Speedway, by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, dotted with Speedway gas stations.)
President Donald Trump has been tenderizing Indiana off and on for decades, going all the way back to the state’s legalizing of casinos and his foray there in the ‘90s. He’s no stranger to Indiana politics, even if he and and then-Gov. Mike Pence were effectively strangers before linking arms in 2016.
Now, as Trump and the White House work feverishly to stave off a Democratic wave in the 2026 Midterm elections, they’re going to Republican states trying to push out as many Democratic House members as they can, even where there’s hardly any left, like in Indiana.
The first step is tenderizing Hoosiers.
The Nut Graf:
It wasn’t too long ago that Republicans and Democrats used to share power in the state, a function of the blend of legacy blue blood Republicans and rural “Butternut” Democrats and union strongholds which held much of the state in relative balance for decades. That changed handily starting in 2010, as Republican dominance grew under the leadership of then-Gov. Mitch Daniels and shifting national tides.
Now Republicans have held the governor’s office for 21 years straight, both U.S. Senate seats for seven years running, crippling supermajorities in the state legislature and a steady 7-2 grip on the state’s Congressional delegation for more than a decade.
Facing almost guaranteed impeachment(s) if Democrats retake the House of Representatives in roughly 14 months, Trump is going state by state trying to force rare rewriting of the state Congressional maps.
This week he and Vice President J.D. Vance beckoned the Hoosier Republicans to the White House to work on the state’s leaders. (One Indiana Republican source notes the talk of redistricting was lowkey and gentle.) This comes after Vance’s trip to Indiana three weeks ago and weeks of social media tenderizing by Trump’s deputies.
Hot Quote
Don’t count on the very public protestations to last long. By the time Indiana’s Republicans are good and softened up — be it from political smashing or lavish promises of political support — it will be time for the state’s governor, Mike Braun, to bring them in for a special session to approve the new Trump districts.
Braun has been demur on the idea of calling legislators back in to draw new Congressional maps, but also has a longstanding relationship with Trump and his team from his time in the U.S. Senate.
Reticence can be seen in the already tight districts built for Republican optimization, widespread dislike of gerrymandering and a 2026 shaping up to be a strong showing for Democrats nationwide.
Deep Background
“That’s the second time you guys drew him out of his seat.”
That’s what I told former Indiana Republican Party spokesman Pete Seat back in 2012 at the big state party fundraiser when party Chair Eric Holcomb acknowledged then-Rep. Todd Rokita and the congressman rose to applause.
Three years earlier, when he was the Indiana Secretary of State, Rokita pushed for new limits on gerrymandering in Indiana. A year later, he won his race for Congress. And the year after that, in 2011, the state’s Republican leaders approved new gerrymandered maps — notably placing Rokita’s home outside his Congressional district.
Indiana’s Congressional maps have long looked positively pristine from a 30,000-foot view. Contiguous as can be (the state is landlocked) local townships intact, no weird labyrinthine zigs and zags. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t been squeezed to pack Democrats into only a handful of seats, minimizing their power.
What’s Next
Coming up tomorrow (Thursday), we’ll be looking at what’s happening in Iowa. Are Democrats having a cornfield moment? Is the state reverting to purple after more than a decade of solid-Red races? Or are some recent signs, like a surprise special election victory, errant blips?
Catch up
Did you miss yesterday’s show? Watch it here! Every day’s live show, Noon ET, premiers at 8p ET on the Political Voices Network YouTube page.
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