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A slate of closely watched Republican primaries in Indiana Tuesday night offered a key test of President Donald Trump\u2019s grip on the GOP ahead of his final midterm election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Seven incumbent state senators who voted against Trump\u2019s redistricting push last year faced primary challengers backed by the president, Sen. Jim Banks and Turning Point Action. As of this writing, the Trump-backed challengers have ousted five of them<\/a>. One of the incumbents, Greg Goode, has won reelection, and the seventh race remains too close to call.<\/p>\n State legislative primaries typically draw limited attention, but Indiana\u2019s contests went under the national microscope after 21 Republicans joined Democrats to shoot down a redistricting bill that would\u2019ve netted the GOP several House seats in this year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/span><\/p>\n The decision placed Indiana at odds with other Republican-led states that moved more quickly to align with Trump\u2019s push for maps designed to maximize GOP gains. Trump and his allies immediately vowed to seek revenge, and have succeeded in ousting a majority of those Republicans who were up for reelection this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAny Republican that votes against this important redistricting \u2026 should be PRIMARIED,\u201d Trump wrote at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the months leading up to Tuesday\u2019s primaries, Trump escalated his involvement by hosting candidates, issuing endorsements, and amplifying the races to a national audience. On Tuesday, he reinforced that message in a <\/span>post<\/span><\/a> on Truth Social: \u201cGood luck to those Great Indiana Senate Candidates who are running against people who couldn\u2019t care less about our Country, or about keeping the Majority in Congress. There are eight Great Patriots running against long seated RINOS \u2014 Let\u2019s see how those RINOS do tonight!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Many of the incumbents targeted by Trump are long-serving Republicans with strong conservative credentials and backing from traditional interest groups, including law enforcement, agriculture, and gun rights organizations. Their resistance to the redistricting push, however, became a defining issue in the primaries.<\/span><\/p>\n Some defended their position as a matter of principle. State Sen. Spencer Deery, the incumbent whose race remains too close to call, argued ahead of the election that altering congressional maps outside the standard redistricting cycle raised constitutional and political concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n Others within the party framed the issue differently, emphasizing loyalty and political urgency. Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a supporter of the redistricting effort, argued that the moment called not just for conservative policy positions, but for alignment with broader national strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEveryone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters. Indiana is a conservative state, and we deserve conservatives in our State Senate who have a pulse on Republican voters,\u201d Banks said Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an honor to be entrusted by President Trump with the important political work of electing conservative Republicans who support his agenda, and I\u2019m proud to say that we delivered. I look forward to fighting for an America First agenda in Indiana alongside the many newly elected conservative State Senators.\u201d<\/p>\n With Trump\u2019s approval rating on the decline<\/a>, and fissures on the right leading to questions about the future of MAGA, Tuesday night\u2019s results provide a strong indicator that Trump can still be a kingmaker in the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n