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Gary council members urge turnout as redistricting moves through Indiana legislature
Summary
Council members raised alarms about a proposed state congressional map and urged residents to vote; Councilman Darren Washington warned the map could move Rep. Andre Carson out of his current district and urged a major turnout increase in Gary.
Several members of the Gary Common Council used their closing remarks on Dec. 2 to warn residents about pending state redistricting proposals and to urge greater voter participation.
Councilman Darren Washington described recent action in the Indiana General Assembly on a new map and said the proposed lines could place Congressman Andre Carson outside his current District 7. "There's an anticipation that [the map] is going to pass the house… The new map puts his house out of District 7 and puts him into District 9," Washington said, warning of reduced local representation.
Washington urged a sharp increase in local turnout, saying Gary currently underperforms and that higher participation would change political calculations. "If the rest of the county wanna vote at 9%, Gary, we need to vote at 70%." Several council members said the Gary Common Council had been the only municipal body in the state to pass a resolution opposing the redistricting proposal and called for education and community organizing ahead of 2026 primaries.
Council members also encouraged residents to follow state and local government pages for updates and to engage with the process.
