A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Today is primary day in Ohio and Indiana, and we're closely watching half a dozen state Senate primaries in Indiana.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yeah, you heard that right - state Senate. But there are national implications for these local races. President Trump said the incumbents should be primaried. The results will test Trump's power of political retribution.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's senior political correspondent Tamara Keith was in Indiana last week - joins us now. Tamara, Indiana's a big red state, so why is the president of the United States involved in the state Senate primaries?
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Yeah. The GOP-controlled state Senate in Indiana rejected President Trump's efforts to get them to redraw the state's congressional district lines, and Trump responded by saying the Republicans who voted no should be ashamed of themselves and should be primaried. And then his political team got to work, with outside groups recruiting challengers, spending millions of dollars to boost their campaigns. He even met with the challengers at the White House.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So put that into perspective for us.
KEITH: Yeah. These are state Senate primaries - usually relatively sleepy affairs focused on local issues. But according to data from AdImpact, there's been nearly $7 million spent just on TV ads. You can add millions more for mailers and other campaign efforts. I went out door-knocking with state Senator Jim Buck and he told me this is unprecedented.
JIM BUCK: I mean, you go back as far as you can go, we've never had Washington meddle into our elections like they have this time.
KEITH: He told me that in past cycles, if he spent $150,000 on his race, that would be a lot of money. This time, he's had more than a million dumped on him, with ads calling him a Republican in name only, or RINO. He's not a Never Trumper. He campaigned for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
MARTÍNEZ: So what are these races about? Are they about redistricting, Trump, something else?
KEITH: Well, I asked state Senator Spencer Deery that, and he said the fight over the congressional maps isn't what voters talk to him about.
SPENCER DEERY: It is affordability, affordability, affordability, I think one through three. And most people kind of remember that we did something with redistricting, but they don't really know the ins and outs. It's kind of in the weeds.
KEITH: And most of the ads aren't even talking about redistricting. Still, this is a test for President Trump. He is putting a lot of energy into trying to take out incumbent Republicans who have crossed him. He's also very involved in the upcoming primaries for Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, who voted for impeachment after January 6, and Congressman Thomas Massie in Kentucky, who has been a general pain in Trump's side.
MARTÍNEZ: The thing is, though, President Trump has record low approval ratings right now and Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress, so why focus on primaries in red states?
KEITH: Marty Obst, a longtime Republican consultant in Indiana involved in this effort to oust the incumbents, told me that the president is the leader of the party and Republicans need to fall in line or there will be consequences. And he feels good about their chance of success today.
MARTY OBST: I think it goes to show the strength of his political operation, and also in the fact that he still has a strong amount of support, particularly in conservative red states around the country.
KEITH: A Trump political adviser not authorized to speak on the record said these incumbents are headed to their, quote, "political slaughter" and there's plenty of campaign cash to send a message in Indiana and continue to defend Republican majorities in Congress.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Tam, thanks.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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