Indiana State Senator Rodric Bray speaks to press after the first day of a special session debating on banning abortion in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Cheney Orr

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) -In a reversal, Indiana Republicans will meet in December to consider whether to heed President Donald Trump's demand for a new congressional district map favoring Republican candidates, part of his national effort aimed at keeping control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives, Todd Huston, said on Tuesday that his chamber would convene on December 1 to take up redistricting. The state Senate's Republican leader, Rodric Bray, said soon after that the Senate would return to the capitol a week later to take up any plan that the House passes.

Bray had previously said the Senate would not meet in December because there was not enough support to pass a new map, seemingly ending Trump's push.

The president has demanded that Republican-led states redraw their congressional districts to favor Republicans and protect the party’s narrow majority in the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.

His effort has triggered a rare cycle of mid-decade redistricting, with both Republican-led states like Texas and Democratic-controlled states like California advancing new maps in a seesaw battle over the House.

Typically, redistricting only occurs at the start of each decade, based on data from the U.S. Census.

In Indiana, it was not clear on Tuesday whether recalcitrant Republican senators had changed their minds about redistricting. Trump has mounted an intense pressure campaign threatening to back Republican primary challengers to any lawmaker who votes against a new map.

In a lengthy social media post on Tuesday, Trump repeated his threat and said he hoped "the Senate finds the votes."

Democrats only need to flip three Republican-held seats next year to secure a House majority, so even small shifts in congressional maps could have an outsized impact on the 2026 elections.

Republicans control seven of Indiana’s nine U.S. House seats.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)