The Stack: Inside Indiana’s Redistricting Debate: Beau Bayh Joins the Todd Huff Show
On the November 4, 2025 episode of The Todd Huff Show, Todd welcomed Beau Bayh, Democrat candidate for Indiana Secretary of State, for an open discussion on one of the state’s most debated issues—mid-cycle redistricting.
Bayh, son and grandson of former Indiana governors and senators, argued that changing congressional maps between census cycles undermines voter trust. He emphasized that gerrymandering by either party erodes accountability and competition, calling for bipartisan reform and a renewed focus on fair representation.
Todd pressed back, noting that redistricting is a political process built into state law and that voters can ultimately hold lawmakers responsible. The two explored whether today’s extreme partisanship fuels redistricting battles and debated how faith, trust, and civic duty intersect in public service.
The conversation also touched on broader political shifts—how the Democratic Party of today compares to the Bayh family legacy—and whether Indiana’s political climate still allows room for cooperation across party lines.
True to the show’s “Conservative, Not Bitter” theme, Todd offered a respectful but pointed exchange that challenged assumptions on both sides. Beau Bayh closed by pledging to promote transparency and fight corruption regardless of party.
If you’re interested in election integrity, redistricting fairness, or the future of Hoosier politics, this episode delivers perspective and substance from both sides of the aisle.
🎧 Listen to Today’s Episode
📰 Stack Links
Indiana governor summons lawmakers for redistricting session amid national GOP pressure
Indiana lawmakers set mid-cycle redistricting work for December
“Democracy doesn’t get redrawn”: Indiana Black Legislative Caucus leads rally against new maps
Here’s how Trump’s redistricting push could reshape political power in Indiana
Is mid-decade redistricting legal? Indiana Democrats prepare court challenge
Indiana Poll Signals Mid-Decade Map Rewrite Could Cost Republicans at the Ballot
📝 Transcript: Inside Indiana’s Redistricting Debate: Beau Bayh Joins the Todd Huff Show
The Todd Huff Show – November 4, 2025
Host: Todd Huff
Guest: Beau Bayh, Democrat candidate for Indiana Secretary of State
Todd Huff: Well, that is right, my friends. Special program today — we don’t do this often. We’re doing this a little more frequently than we used to, but I’ve got the privilege today of speaking with Beau Bayh, which we’ll introduce here in just a moment.
Todd Huff: Beau is a Democrat running for Secretary of State here in the Hoosier state — the great state of Indiana. If you’ve been a Hoosier for long, you will recognize the name. His dad, Evan, was governor and senator. His grandpa, Birch, was senator as well.
Todd Huff: So we’ll bring Beau on here in just a moment. We’re going to talk about redistricting. We’re going to talk about politics in general, but redistricting is a big thing here in this state and in others as well as we gear up for the midterms coming up in one year — a year from today, in fact.
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Todd Huff: With that being said, I’d like to invite to the program Beau Bayh again. He’s a Democrat running for Secretary of State here in Indiana.
Todd Huff: Beau, welcome to the program, sir. How are you today?
Beau Bayh: I’m doing really well, Todd. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.
Todd Huff: It’s my pleasure to have you. As I told you when we first connected here, I appreciate you coming on the program today because I’ve invited a lot of other Democrats to discuss issues like this, and many — most — turned down the invitation.
Todd Huff: You accepted, and I respect that a whole lot. Beau, our audience, as you know, is primarily conservative — primarily Republican — but the brand of what I do is conservative, not bitter. I told you I was raised in a union Democrat household myself.
Todd Huff: I want you to know I’m going to treat you fairly, but also ask fair, direct questions. And let’s start here, if that’s okay — what made you want to come on a conservative talk show and talk about redistricting with this audience today?
Beau Bayh: Yeah, well, as you mentioned, I’m running for Secretary of State in Indiana. I’m not running to be the Secretary of State of just the Democrats in Indiana — I’m going to represent everyone in this office.
Beau Bayh: And we have a lot of great conservative voters in our state, so I have an obligation, running for this office, to reach out to them — to try and find areas where we agree and to listen to their concerns.
Beau Bayh: Look, I’ll talk to anyone, from anywhere, of any political party. That’s kind of my mantra in this race. That’s just who I am as a person. I think it’s a shame the way we separate ourselves into teams so often in our politics. It becomes tribal and partisan, and I think that really does a disservice to the people of our great state.
Beau Bayh: We should recognize the things we have in common, right? I was reading a little bit about your show — you said it’s a faith-driven podcast. I’m a man of faith. There are things in our lives — the fact that we’re all Americans, that we all want a better future for our families — that, for you and me, our Christian faith should bond us.
Beau Bayh: Those things are far more important than any political divide we may have. So yeah, I’m just happy to come on and have this discussion with you, Todd.
Todd Huff: Well, I appreciate it. You’ve publicly called for this mid-cycle redistricting in Indiana — you’ve called it, I think, “just wrong.” I want you to walk us through your main objections, be they procedural, ethical, or practical. What are your objections, Beau?
Beau Bayh: Yeah, well, there’s a few. And look — I don’t think it’s the right thing to do in Indiana. But let me just say, Todd, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do in California, and I think it’s ridiculous that it’s happened in Illinois for the longest time.
Beau Bayh: For me, this is not a partisan issue. It doesn’t matter what political party is doing this. Gerrymandering like this — where politicians decide who their voters are — basically makes our elections noncompetitive, and that’s just wrong.
Beau Bayh: Because to the extent possible, we should have everyone with an equal say in our representative democracy, right? We want people’s votes and voices to count in our elections. And when you have a bunch of politicians in the statehouse — in Indiana or Illinois — deciding who’s going to elect them…
Beau Bayh: They can change the maps in such a way that they really don’t have to take the people’s interests into account when they’re running campaigns. That decreases accountability among elected officials, and it decreases competition in elections, which can produce more extreme results — in both Democratic and Republican states.
Beau Bayh: I think competition in business is a good thing because it produces better results for consumers. It produces better goods, it drives costs down — and it’s a good thing in politics too.
Beau Bayh: When you have two competing, reasonable parties that are forging policy and compromising on some things, and having to just compete strongly, that’s going to produce a better result for voters.
Beau Bayh: So I’m all about competition. I’m all about people having a fair say in our government. And this is going to do a lot to further degrade the trust that we have in our democracy.
Beau Bayh: As you know, that trust is at an all-time low. It doesn’t matter what political party you’re in — people today, I mean, look, I’m getting around the whole state, I’m listening to people — Republicans, Democrats, independents. One of the number one issues I hear, Todd, from all of them, is that they just don’t have a ton of trust in their elected officials or in our democratic processes.
Beau Bayh: What is this going to do to that trust? It’s only going to further erode it when people say, “Look, these folks in the State Legislature are just going to redraw the map so my vote doesn’t really count.”
Todd Huff: I mean, that doesn’t do a whole lot to rebuild the broken bonds of trust that are really hurting our country and our state. So when it comes to gerrymandering, let’s talk a little bit about that.
Todd Huff: Every ten years, you know this — the audience knows this — we take a census and we redraw the districts based on whether or not we gain or lose population, right? Based on total population from the census.
Todd Huff: This is a midterm kind of thing, a mid-decade thing, but it is a political process though. My position is if voters don’t like what’s done, they can hold the legislature politically responsible.
Todd Huff: You think there’s more to it than that? And if so, what else is there?
Beau Bayh: Well, two things. First, if we continue down this path and have mid-decade redistricting, eventually that gets us to a place where we’re just going to do this every two years.
Beau Bayh: From a workability standpoint, that becomes tough — to just redraw these maps without a lot of new data. You mentioned the census — we take in data from those years and restructure our maps accordingly.
Beau Bayh: If we’re doing this every two years without new data, it just makes it, from a practicality standpoint, pretty hard to do.
Beau Bayh: But another thing you mentioned, Todd — okay, I take your point that if the legislature moves ahead with this, voters will have the opportunity to vote them out if they don’t like it.
Beau Bayh: But the problem with that argument is that if the state legislature draws maps in a way where their seats are safe — where they actually can’t be held accountable because they’ve picked their voters — then they’re probably safe no matter what they do.
Beau Bayh: And they’re not going to be held accountable. And that’s true, by the way, in blue states too.
Todd Huff: No, I don’t want to interrupt you — I try to give as much time to you as I can — but go ahead and finish your thought.
Beau Bayh: I was going to say, this is bad in blue states too. Look, if we continue down this race to the bottom, if this gets replicated in other places in the country — like California, with that ballot proposition that’s being voted on — then we’ll reach a place in our country, Todd, where we just have completely red congressional delegations and completely blue ones.
Beau Bayh: And what will that produce? It’ll produce a politics where the general election is basically determined in the primary. And you know — you’re a student of politics — primaries tend to produce more extreme candidates.
Beau Bayh: They favor the more partisan base that turns out in those elections. That’ll produce more extreme politics, not just in the Republican Party but in the Democratic Party too.
Beau Bayh: So I’d ask your listeners — do they really want more extreme Democrats running for office? I’m tired of that. I don’t think we need more extremes in either party.
Beau Bayh: I think we ought to have nonpartisan people — to the extent it’s possible — trying to work with each other, to compromise, and to help people. That should be our first goal as elected officials.
Todd Huff: To help the people we represent — not just to change elections to get re-elected indefinitely. Yeah, that makes sense.
Todd Huff: So, two things. The state legislature is changing the U.S. Congress district map — so these maps wouldn’t secure their own elections because they’re drawing the federal districts, not their own. Unless I’m missing something? Correct me if I’m wrong, Beau.
Beau Bayh: No, that’s true.
Todd Huff: Okay, so number two, I guess my question would be this: I see your point. Allowing this could lead to more partisanship — but isn’t the extreme partisanship we’re already seeing what’s fueling this in the first place?
Todd Huff: Because from someone like my perspective — I think, and correct me if I’m wrong — the Democratic Party of your dad and your grandfather is different today. And I’m not here to defend the Republican Party, and I’m not expecting you to defend everything about the Democratic Party.
Todd Huff: At the end of the day, we’re humans who have to make individual choices about where we align. But I think some of this extreme stuff that we’ve seen — from, say, the extreme trans agenda or these open socialist candidates like Zoron Momdani — these things are threatening, I think, to the core of our republic.
Todd Huff: And I think a Hoosier Democrat today isn’t the same thing as a California Democrat, but they end up voting for the same leadership in Washington. I think that fuels this too. Where do you agree with that, and where do you disagree?
Beau Bayh: First, you brought up a good point, Todd — I just want to clarify myself on one thing you said earlier. You’re right that the legislature won’t directly benefit from changing the congressional districts. The party doing it benefits politically, but not those specific legislators.
Beau Bayh: So, back to your point — look, I take it. It’s just such a shame how much partisanship plays into our politics. I think compromise shouldn’t be a dirty word. You just said you and I would probably agree on a lot of things — and I’m sure that’s the case.
Beau Bayh: I’m sure your listeners and I agree on some stuff. We should be able to find things we agree on to deliver results for people.
Beau Bayh: And if I can pivot a bit to the race I’m running — the good thing about the Secretary of State’s office is that it’s not supposed to be partisan. You’re in charge of handling elections, investigating securities fraud, registering new businesses, regulating dealerships — none of that is partisan.
Todd Huff: Right — it’s administrative, it’s integrity-based.
Beau Bayh: Exactly. It’s about integrity and accountability. Look, we’ve got to get back to a place in this country where we have two strong, reasonable political parties that are competing — and that are willing to work with each other.
Beau Bayh: Maybe that’s naive, but I believe it. And yeah, I take your point — intense partisanship kicked off this whole race to the bottom, but that’s not an excuse to keep going down that path.
Beau Bayh: At some point, we’ve got to stand on principle and just say, “This isn’t right.” And like I said, it doesn’t matter where it happens — it’s wrong. In Illinois, it’s wrong. What they do in Illinois disenfranchises a bunch of conservative voters downstate who feel like they don’t have a say in their state government.
Beau Bayh: That’s not the right thing to do. And it’s funny, because this is one of the only times I’ve heard folks in Indiana saying we should be more like California or Illinois in the way they do things. Usually, people in Indiana aren’t saying, “Look at those folks in California — they’re doing things the right way.”
Todd Huff: Yeah, that’s true.
Todd Huff: I’m on with Beau Bayh — he’s running for Secretary of State here in Indiana. We’re talking about redistricting and the larger political landscape we’ve got today.
Todd Huff: I went to Butler — I studied political science there. And when I think of gerrymandering, maybe it’s nuanced, or maybe I’m off a degree here, but I always understood it as one of those things where you can’t always define it easily, but you know it when you see it.
Todd Huff: Kind of like that Supreme Court case years ago about pornography — the justice said, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” Gerrymandering’s the same way.
Todd Huff: I see those districts in Illinois drawn specifically to connect cities that lean blue. I think it’s one of those things you just know when you see it. But I reject the notion that any district is automatically Republican or Democrat if they’re fairly drawn.
Todd Huff: If they’re fairly drawn and not extreme, I guess my question is: what else are we looking for? How else do we define when it crosses the line? Because you still have to win votes in that district, right?
Beau Bayh: Look, you know it when you see it. You’re exactly right. We have a Democratic congressman here in Marion County where I live. The maps I’ve seen floated would cut Marion County in a bunch of different ways and basically remove him from his seat.
Beau Bayh: Now, I don’t want to get into whether you or your listeners agree with him politically — I’d imagine many disagree — but what we can agree on, I’d hope, is that politicians shouldn’t be the ones deciding whether to remove him.
Beau Bayh: In effect, that’s what gerrymandering does — it takes power out of voters’ hands and puts it in the hands of 150 people in the state legislature.
Beau Bayh: To me, Todd, that doesn’t make sense. I may be idealistic about this, and I know politics is rough and tumble, but there are some things you’ve got to be principled about. This just isn’t right.
Todd Huff: Help me understand this — let’s say Marion County is split. I hear what you’re saying, and part of me relates to it. But who says Marion County has to stay together?
Todd Huff: There’s nothing — even morally or constitutionally — that says a district has to be shaped a certain way. Again, you can tell when something’s drawn to manipulate, but what’s the standard? Why can’t we split Marion County? Maybe there’s an obvious reason. Just give me your feedback.
Beau Bayh: Well, look, in states that do this in a bipartisan manner — like California — there’s a process for drawing maps more fairly. Now, California’s got plenty of problems, don’t get me wrong, but to their credit, they tried to fix gerrymandering with a bipartisan redistricting commission.
Beau Bayh: What that means is, they look at what they call “communities of interest” — people who live in the same neighborhoods, who share schools, parks, services, who actually interact in their daily lives.
Beau Bayh: They ask, “How do we apportion representation so someone’s representing a real community?”
Beau Bayh: Some of the maps I’ve seen floated here in Indiana would lump voters in Marion County with people all the way out in Fort Wayne or Lafayette. Those are totally different communities.
Beau Bayh: Sure, voters everywhere share some common values, but someone in downtown Indianapolis has different local priorities than someone two counties away. Representation works best when those communities stay somewhat intact.
Todd Huff: Right, and Indianapolis — Marion County — is heavily Democratic. It’s a blue county in a red state. The mayor just won by what, twenty points? It’s kind of the inverse of the rest of Indiana.
Todd Huff: So can we, in good faith, say that a district that encompasses most of Marion County should have a representative from the opposite party? I mean, if voters there consistently choose Democrats, that seems like the natural outcome.
Beau Bayh: And that’s fine, Todd. The goal isn’t to make every district competitive for its own sake — it’s to make sure voters are picking their representatives, not the other way around.
Beau Bayh: At the end of the day, we’ve got to ask, “What does this do to people’s faith in our democracy?” We live in a conservative state, sure, but that doesn’t mean everyone thinks the same way about every issue.
Beau Bayh: If this process tells people, “Your vote doesn’t matter,” that hurts everyone — Republican, Democrat, or independent. And conservatives should want accountability too, because it cuts both ways.
Beau Bayh: Because like I said, conservatives benefit from having a reasonable opposition party. If there’s no competition, there’s no accountability. And when there’s no accountability, you start seeing results like we’ve seen.
Beau Bayh: Diego Morales is the current Secretary of State. This guy’s hiring family members, taking trips all over the world, not saying who’s paying for them, giving out millions in taxpayer money to his donors through no-bid contracts. Those aren’t the actions of someone who fears repercussions from elections.
Beau Bayh: He doesn’t — because there’s no competition in our state. So we have to ask, do we really want that replicated all across Indiana? I don’t. And it’s not about party — it’s about principle.
Todd Huff: Well, yeah, we absolutely want accountability. They still have to win elections, no matter where they are.
Todd Huff: And one of the dangers here, Beau — and I just have a minute — I can’t speak to any of those things you just said about Diego Morales. But in you saying that, we’ll probably invite him on the show and give him the chance to respond to those allegations if he wants to.
Todd Huff: We’ll see if he takes us up on that. But I’ve got less than a minute — are there larger political issues or concerns you see going forward as a Hoosier stepping into politics?
Beau Bayh: Yeah, my main concern is the amount of insider dealing and corruption we’ve seen in state government, Todd. And look, that’s not partisan — Diego Morales isn’t bad because he’s a Republican. He’s bad because he’s using his position for personal gain.
Beau Bayh: That’s wrong no matter who does it — Democrat or Republican. I’m running to root that out. If people believe in better government, in accountability for bad acts from politicians, I’d ask your listeners to take a hard look at this race and keep an open mind.
Beau Bayh: I’ll always listen to them. And I think we agree on a lot more than they may think.
Todd Huff: Well, Beau, I appreciate it. I’m simply out of time. I commend you for coming on. Good conversation. Thank you very much.
Todd Huff: That’s Beau Bayh — he’s running for Secretary of State here in the state of Indiana. My friends, I’ve got to take a timeout. You’re listening to the home of conservative, not bitter talk. I’m your host, Todd Huff. Back in just a minute.
Todd Huff: Welcome back, my friends. I hope you enjoyed that conversation. I did. I try — listen — I like talking to people, and I try, as you know, to be fair. I’ve got rules.
Todd Huff: In fact, one of the benefits of being on our newsletter — which, by the way, is free at toddhuffshow.com — is I sometimes share those rules. We call it The Inner Circle now, because we’re about to launch Inner Circle Plus with even more content.
Todd Huff: But here’s one of those rules: when I bring someone on, I try not to interrupt. You get to hear from me all the time, and I understand when I bring someone else on, I want to hear them. I can always share my take afterward.
Todd Huff: That’s part of what makes this show conservative, not bitter.
Todd Huff: And I’ve got to say — I had one joker out there accusing me of grifting off Charlie Kirk’s death, which is absurd. If you’ve listened to this show for any length of time, you know that’s not who I am.
Todd Huff: But I’ll tell you something — his assassination made me pause and reevaluate what we’re doing here. It reminded me that our message — truth — has to reach people outside the echo chamber.
Todd Huff: Charlie was effective because he knew how to get truth in front of the right people. And that’s something we’ve got to be better at, too.
Todd Huff: We can’t just talk to people who already agree with us. We’ve got to take truth to where it’s needed most.
Todd Huff: And that’s one reason I bring on guests like Beau Bayh — not because I agree with him, but because he was willing to have the conversation. He showed up. And I respect that.
Todd Huff: He’s a younger guy, putting his name into the political arena. Personally, I like Beau. But I’ll be honest: I can’t wrap my head around voting for someone who calls themselves a Democrat today.
Todd Huff: The party has gone off the rails — it’s not the party of Evan Bayh or Birch Bayh anymore. I don’t know why anyone would associate with it in its current form, given how far it’s gone.
Todd Huff: But you know what? He came on the show. And that’s more than most will do.
Todd Huff: So, a couple of things I want to get to in response to Beau before we wrap up. First — I understand where he’s coming from, and there are things he said that I think we ought to think about.
Todd Huff: We need to be careful and aware as we head down this path of redistricting. But I also think we’ve got to recognize what we’re up against. The Democrat political machine has already done this in blue states for years — they’ve maximized every seat they could take.
Todd Huff: And now, suddenly, when Republicans are considering it, it’s a “crisis of fairness”? Come on. I wasn’t born yesterday, my friends — and neither were you.
Todd Huff: Beau criticized Illinois and California, and I give him credit for that. But let’s be clear — Democrats have been playing this game for decades.
Todd Huff: There’s something to be said for trying to keep communities together when drawing districts, but to say you can’t split a county? There’s no constitutional or moral blueprint that says a district has to be a certain shape.
Todd Huff: Should it follow rivers, highways, or county lines? There’s no one right answer. At the end of the day, someone has to make the call, and that’s why we elect legislators — so voters can hold them accountable.
Todd Huff: I didn’t have time to get into this with Beau, but he mentioned “nonpartisan commissions” like California’s. Folks, there’s no such thing as nonpartisan. It doesn’t exist.
Todd Huff: I tell you where I stand — I’m a conservative. I believe in conservative principles and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t hide that. And that’s the difference — you can be fair and still have a worldview.
Todd Huff: To pretend a “nonpartisan commission” fixes bias? That’s nonsense. That’s how we got the uniparty — everyone smiling, shaking hands, and cutting deals behind the scenes while voters get ignored.
Todd Huff: So yeah, I can appreciate some of what Beau said, but I also think Republicans are finally playing the same game Democrats have been playing for years — and the left can’t stand that they’re losing control of the board.
Todd Huff: My friends, this fight isn’t just about maps — it’s about the direction of this republic. Our future as a constitutional nation truly hangs in the balance.
Todd Huff: And as I’ve said before, my job isn’t to win elections — it’s to pursue truth. That’s what this program is about.
Todd Huff: I’ll always invite people with differing views, but I’ll also hold them accountable — respectfully, honestly, and directly.
Todd Huff: That’s what Conservative, Not Bitter means.
Todd Huff: My friends, we are out of time for today. As always — SDG.
