Indiana Senate Republicans are fractured. Their leadership under Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray initiated an expensive and nasty campaign against at least five challengers endorsed by President Donald Trump. Those challengers went on to defeat incumbents who opposed Trump’s push for mid-cycle congressional redistricting by historic margins in the May 5 primary election.
Bray cannot recover from that. All but one of these seats tilts so far Republican that the general election outcome is assured. For Bray to retain his position in November, 15% of the caucus would have to look past lies and personal attacks meant to keep them out of office for supporting redistricting. At that point, redistricting supporters will form a majority of the caucus.
The other senators would have to reconcile the fact that their leader is unable to protect them from strong primary challengers.
Bray’s second-in-command is Senate Majority Leader Chris Garten, R-Charlestown. I was his press secretary when I worked in the Indiana Senate. I know he is the only option to succeed Bray with a chance of winning the support of the entire caucus. Now, he must pick up Bray’s mantle.
Garten can win the support of all of his colleagues
Garten gave a passionate floor speech in favor of redistricting, but has avoided publicly criticizing his anti-redistricting colleagues. That’s probably how he maintained his leadership position, while fellow redistricting supporter Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, lost hers.
That’s a sharp contrast to Bray. While Bray didn’t directly write some of the nasty mailers full of personal attacks against pro-redistricting primary challengers, he oversees the Senate Majority Campaign Committee that did.
Garten has also mostly stayed out of primary election battles. Garten was listed on a fundraiser for ousted incumbent Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, though.
That is not unexpected, given a caucus leader has a responsibility to support members even when he disagrees with them on an issue. I would expect he’d extend the same courtesy to new members.
In fact, he donated $10,000 to the campaign of Sen. Nick McKinley, R-Marion, who lost his primary to Chris Parker. McKinley was sworn in as a legislator two months after the Indiana Senate voted against redistricting.
Garten also isn’t a huge ideological shift from Bray. They’re both very practical conservatives. There’s a reason why Bray appointed Garten, then a first-term legislator, to replace then-Sen. Mark Messmer, following a leadership dispute in 2022 related to the state’s abortion ban.
Garten is the conservative leader the times demand
In Bray’s own words, Garten is a “highly capable and passionate leader,” and a “problem-solver who is dedicated to public service.”
Their difference is often in tone and focus. Garten pushed for Medicaid reform to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” long before Medicaid fraud in Minnesota became a national news story. He’s one of the few Republicans to criticize private equity. He’s consistently strong on immigration issues.
When I wrote a column about how Indiana Public Retirement System administrators ignored the intent of his law to ban investments in China, he got them to change their policy the next day. It’s rare to find a legislator who can move the state bureaucracy that quickly in alignment with highly popular legislative priorities.
Bray and Garten are both principled conservatives. Bray was decently well-suited to lead the Indiana Senate in 2018, when he was first appointed. It’s a different era now. Garten embodies what responsive conservative leadership looks like in an era where rank-and-file conservative voters demand more from incumbents.
Garten is already doing the job
As senate majority leader, Garten is already the person senators on both sides of the aisle go to when they have issues or want things done.
“Bray might have assigned the committees, he might have assigned the chairmanship, but … Garten’s the one who ran the Senate,” Kyle Mattern, who worked as an intern for Garten during the 2025 legislative session, told me.
For that reason, Garten is incredibly busy all the time. He works so hard I was barely able to see him when I worked as his press secretary.
“With Garten … you’re not going to get retroactive or respondent leadership, you’re going to get proactive leadership,” Mattern added.
Mattern is right. Garten is already doing the grunt work needed for proactive leadership. That includes serving his colleagues and even sacrificing his own interests to do what’s best for the caucus.
Good leaders can also inspire those around them to rally around a cause. While Garten’s redistricting speech was criticized by my colleague, James Briggs, for framing redistricting as a battle between good and evil, it had its intended effect. His speech was the first thing many Republicans pointed to when weighing his qualifications to take over leadership of the Senate.
His charismatic nature and servant leadership are not surprising. He’s a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. His two combat tours in Iraq and service as a gunnery sergeant show he’s no stranger to leading men and women with major differences through dangerous and difficult situations.
That’s exactly where the Indiana Senate is now, and exactly why he’s needed.
Contact Jacob Stewart at 317-444-4683 or jacob.stewart@indystar.com. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Trump fractured the Indiana Senate. It needs a new leader. | Opinion
Reporting by Jacob Stewart, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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