Republican Victoria Spartz defeated a host of competitors to win Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, a traditionally Republican territory that includes some of the state’s wealthiest towns, such as Zionsville, Carmel, and Fishers.
Other than the winner, vying for the district’s congressional seat were Democrat Christina Hale, Libertarian Ken Tucker, and Independent Ellen Kizik, a write in.
Spartz will fill the seat left open by retiring Republican Rep. Susan Brooks, who departed Congress after serving for eight years. The exit by they GOP’s head of recruitment for the 2020 elections was a curveball for the party.
Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, which is largely residential, was considered flippable because suburban housewives who voted for President Trump in 2016 might oppose him in this election. CNN determined the district to be one of the 10 most likely congressional seats to flip.
Global Strategy Group, a polling company, had Hale with a 7-point lead in August, the most recent polling for the district. That same poll had Vice President Joe Biden with an 8 point lead over Trump.
The 5th District was also trending blue before the 2020 election. In 2016, Trump won the district with 53% of its vote. Brooks, who won prior elections by roughly 30%, defeated her Democratic opponent, Dee Thornton, in 2018 by just 13%.
Two years later, Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly won 48.4% of the district’s vote in the 2018 election to Mike Braun’s 47.9%, his Republican challenger. However, Braun ultimately won the statewide election.
Republicans have ruled the district since 1969, with the exception of a brief interruption by Democratic Rep. Jim Jontz, who represented the region from 1987 to 1993. Jontz lost to Republican Steve Beyer in 1993.
