Rep. Spartz wins hard-fought GOP primary in Indiana’s 5th District, CNN projects
By Eric Bradner, CNN
(CNN) — Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz will win her hard-fought Republican primary for her 5th District seat based in the northeastern Indianapolis suburbs Tuesday, CNN projects.
Spartz, who in 2023 said she would not seek reelection, reversed her decision just before February’s filing deadline. She faced eight challengers, included state Rep. Chuck Goodrich, a businessman who had announced his campaign a month earlier and outspent Spartz.
The Ukrainian-born Spartz was an early advocate for US support for the country against Russia’s unprovoked invasion. But last month, she voted against a $95 billion foreign aid package that included $61 billion in backing for Ukraine. She cast that vote as Goodrich aired television ads accusing Spartz of putting “Ukraine first.”
Spartz’s campaign, meanwhile, aired TV ads claiming Goodrich “puts China first to get rich.” The ad claims Goodrich voted to allow Chinese companies to buy Indiana farmland. Goodrich actually voted in favor of a measure banning such purchases, which passed on near-unanimous votes this year. The measure allows companies to renew leases made before July 1, 2024, which Spartz’s campaign told The Indianapolis Star is a “loophole.”
Spartz first won the 5th District seat in 2020, when Democratic gains in suburbs made it a battleground. But the redistricting process, controlled by Indiana’s Republican-dominated state legislature, turned the seat into safe GOP territory.
Other races
Also on Tuesday, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump each won their respective presidential primaries in the state, CNN projects.
Meanwhile, in the race to be Indiana’s next governor, CNN projected that Sen. Mike Braun will win the Republican primary.
Braun was the best-known of the six contenders in the field seeking to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Indiana has had a Republican governor since Mitch Daniels’ win in 2004. And while Democrats have notched victories there in recent memory — Barack Obama carried Indiana’s Electoral College votes in 2008; former Sen. Joe Donnelly won in 2012 — Indiana has shifted rapidly to the right since 2016, making Braun a heavy favorite in the general election.
Braun will face Democratic former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick in November, CNN projects. McCormick, who was elected in 2016 to her previous post as a Republican, switched parties in 2021, after her lone four-year term.
Braun’s gubernatorial campaign left his Senate seat open. Rep. Jim Banks – who was unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary – will advance to November’s Senate general election and face Democrat Valerie McCray, a clinical psychologist, CNN projects.
Banks, a Donald Trump ally who was endorsed by the former president, will be the heavy favorite in November.
The former state lawmaker from northeastern Indiana was first elected to the House in 2016. He overcame his only major hurdle to the GOP gubernatorial nomination early last year, when popular former Gov. Mitch Daniels opted against a run.
The-CNN-Wire
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