An Indiana State Senate committee advanced a proposed new congressional map after hearings Monday, after months of contentious debate and pressure from the Trump administration. 

The map is designed to net the GOP two more seats in Congress by splitting up Democratic-leaning Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis into multiple districts, which would likely lean Republican. The result would be that all nine Indiana U.S House districts would be friendly to Republicans.

The contours would specifically eliminate the districts of Indiana's two Democratic congressional representatives: longtime Rep. André Carson of Indianapolis, the state's only Black member of Congress, and Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents Northwest Indiana.

The final vote of the whole chamber on the new map is expected Thursday and could test Trump's typically iron grip on the Republican Party.

In total, 127 people signed up to testify on the bill in the state Senate hearing on Monday. Of them, just 18 testified in its favor, while the rest were opposed.

Kandy Baker told lawmakers she worries about her 5-year-old granddaughter's future since the new map, she fears, would dilute the political power of nonwhite voters.

"I am afraid she will not have representation," Baker said during her testimony against the bill, emotion choking her voice. "I don't think what's happening is a short-term thing."

Still, the Senate's elections committee voted 6-3 to advance the measure, with one Republican and two Democrats lawmakers opposing it.

While Republicans control the state Senate in Indiana, many have been hesitant or openly opposed to the idea of mid-decade redistricting. About a dozen have been threatened over their stance or refusal to immediately declare support over the past several weeks.

During committee debate Monday night, state Sen. Greg Walker, an Indiana Republican who is against redistricting and voted against it in committee, spoke about threats made against him in recent weeks.

"I refuse to be intimidated," Walker proclaimed in an impassioned speech during the committee meeting. "I fear for all states if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm."

A few of the Republican senators who voted to move the legislation forward Monday said it deserved to be debated by the full Senate, but indicated they may vote against it's final passage.

"I reserve my right to change my vote on the floor," said state Sen. Linda Rogers, a Republican on the committee.

Before he voted in favor of moving the legislation forward, GOP State Sen. Mike Gaskill, chair of the elections committee, called political gerrymandering an "uncomfortable" practice. But he said the Republican Party has act to stop Democratic policy in Congress and act against gerrymandering in Democratic states.

"This is a very small part that we can play and rebalance the scales on a national basis," he said.

This past Friday, the Indiana state House advanced the new congressional map with a 57-41 vote.

Following the Friday vote, President Trump listed out nine state senators who he said "need encouragement to make the right decision" in a Truth Social post.

For months, the White House had been pushing Indiana, a state that Mr. Trump won by 19 points, to redraw its congressional map to try to edge out the two Democrats in the U.S. House. Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other members of the administration met several times with Indiana Republicans to persuade them to redraw the map. 

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called the legislature to reconvene for a special session in November to consider redistricting. But Senate President Rodric Bray insisted that the votes weren't there, and when the legislature convened, they simply agreed to meet again in January for the regular session. 

Before announcing that lawmakers would convene after all, Bray acknowledged in November that "the issue of redrawing Indiana's congressional maps mid-cycle has received a lot of attention and is causing strife here in our state."

Mr. Trump and his allies stepped up threats on Republican holdouts in the legislature, with Mr. Trump calling some out by name on social media and promising they'd face primaries.