My suspicion is that some of them were smart enough to grasp more than silly tweets —
People erroneously assume “it’s all so easy” and just redrawing maps results in a foregone conclusion... but — the failed map actually could have backfired big time.
In a neutral election, it might well go 9-0. But - if the voting patterns were more like 2018? It might well have ended up a disastrous 5-4. As it stands now - it’s almost impossible for worse than 6-3, with 7-2 being most likely (and 8-1 not impossible, as Gary slowly dies and the redder parts of that area make up a bigger population share).
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor - and 2026 increasingly looks like tough sledding.
There was only two congressional district in Indiana where the winner didn't win with more than 64% of the vote. And, it was a Democrat district that was the only won where the winner won with less than 54% of the vote.
In no election should smart redistricting result in less than eight Republican seats in Indiana.
This.
Even Texas was a big gamble in redrawing districts that were once extremely Republican into districts that should be *mostly* Republican.
We should also consider that MAGA's base of low-propensity voters don't like to show up unless Trump himself is on the ballot and these off-year special elections have been a disaster for Republicans with the Democrats running the table.
The only shining light was Tennessee where the Republican won by single digits (in a district Trump carried by 22 points) after the Democrats nominated a crazy woman who told her voters that she hated them.