The conservative US state of Indiana on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a congressional map championed by President Donald Trump that would have wiped out two Democratic-held districts -- denting Republican hopes for a nine-seat sweep in next year's midterm elections.

Democrats need to flip only three seats to reclaim the US House of Representatives in 2026, and the vote in the Hoosier State's senate was supposed to be the latest step in Trump's push for an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting drive aimed at cementing Republican control.

Breaking with long-standing political custom, Trump has urged Republican-run states to redraw their maps years before the next census, hoping to capitalize on Republican dominance in state legislatures and map-making bodies.

The president had spent s

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