GOP’s Spartz, Democrat Hale win Indiana’s 5th District bids

State Sen. Victoria Spartz has won the Republican nomination to replace GOP Rep. Susan Brooks in a central Indiana congressional district that Democrats are targeting for the fall election.

Spartz won Tuesday’s primary over 14 other candidates in the 5th Congressional District after flooding TV screens and mailboxes with ads fueled largely by $1 million she loaned to her campaign.

Former state Rep. Christina Hale of Indianapolis won the Democratic primary and will face Spartz in the November election.

Spartz also benefited from nearly $500,000 spent by the Washington-based anti-tax Club for Growth on ads highlighting past criticisms of President Donald Trump by other candidates in a race that largely turned into a contest of Trump loyalty.

That enabled Spartz, who is from Noblesville, to build name identification as a first-time candidate after two years in the state Senate from being picked by party activists to complete a retired senator’s term.

“I would like to thank the great people of Indiana’s 5th Congressional District for placing their trust in me to be their nominee for Congress,” Spartz said in a statement. “I also want to thank my family and supporters who spent countless hours helping me. My candidacy, and tonight’s victory, also prove that the American Dream is alive and well, and voters want a representative who will defend it.”

Hale was the 2016 Democratic lieutenant governor nominee, and she has already raised more than $1 million. Hale’s closest challenger was Dee Thornton, the party’s 2018 candidate for the seat who was endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC.

“The divide America is feeling and the global health crisis we are experiencing around the world underscore how important elected leadership is to our nation and to this district,” Hale said in a statement on Tuesday night. “Our community is facing unprecedented challenges, and I’m committed to taking action on the issues most critical to families across the 5th District.”

Brooks decided not to see reelection after representing the district since 2013. The district includes all of Hamilton, Madison, Grant and Tipton counties and parts of four others, including northern Marion County.

About 70% of the district’s voters are from Hamilton and Marion counties.

The district has long been considered a GOP stronghold. But Democrats have said that changing demographics and attitudes among suburban voters make it a seat they could win. The race is expected to get national attention through the fall.

On Tuesday night, Indiana Republican Chairman Kyle Hupfer urged the GOP to rally around Spartz, despite the competitive primary.

“We all need to join with Victoria Spartz and ensure this seat stays red in November,” he said. “Holding the 5th will be crucial to flipping the House and kicking Nancy Pelosi out of the speaker’s chair.”

In the GOP race, tensions grew high as Spartz dumped $750,000 into her campaign, investing in TV commercials and airtime. Club for Growth also backed her efforts and spent more than $460,000 attacking other candidates for not being loyal to President Donald Trump.

Those attacks specifically went after nurse and business owner Beth Henderson and former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, but both candidates fought back with their own ads and social media posts.

Earlier Tuesday night — before even the first Marion County vote had been reported — the Club for Growth’s president, former Indiana congressman David McIntosh, issued a statement congratulating her.

“Victoria Spartz knows firsthand just how dangerous socialism is from her youth growing up in Soviet Ukraine, we congratulate her on her victory, and look forward to supporting her in the general election,” McIntosh said in the statement. “As a fellow Hoosier I am proud of her principled, free-market positions she will take to Washington.”

Spartz faced questions about her business experience and her personal finances, including whether she had enough wealth to loan her campaign so much money.

According to a financial disclosure form with the U.S. House, Spartz has assets totaling $8.5 million to $38 million. The assets include real estate, IRAs and income from farming.

The coronavirus pandemic greatly impacted the campaign season, with in-person events, including fundraisers and meet-and-greet opportunities, coming to a halt in mid-March for most candidates.

In-person debates were also canceled, but candidates did participate in several virtual forums.

In the state’s other highly competitive congressional primary Tuesday, Democrat Frank Mrvan won the first step toward replacing longtime Rep. Pete Visclosky in the 1st District, the party’s northwestern Indiana stronghold.

Mrvan, a Lake County township trustee whose father is a longtime state senator from Hammond, defeated 13 other candidates. Five-term Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott entered the campaign as the most prominent candidate, but Mrvan picked up endorsements from Visclosky and the United Steelworkers union.

Visclosky’s choice to replace him after 36 years in Congress won the Democratic primary in northwestern Indiana’s 1st District. Mrvan and McDermott far outpaced other hopefuls, including state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon of Munster and Valparaiso attorney Jim Harper, who was the 2018 Democratic candidate for secretary of state.

Mrvan will be a heavy favorite in the November election against Republican primary winner Mark Leyva, who has lost several times to Visclosky.

Indianapolis voters faced waits of an hour or more at several voting locations throughout the day as Marion County had 22 sites open rather than its normal 270. Some candidates criticized county officials for that decision, but an election administrator said they had no other choice.

“It was impractical for us to have anything close to the normal number of locations during a pandemic,” said Russell Hollis, deputy director of the Marion County clerk’s office. “It has been very difficult for us to recruit enough poll workers during the pandemic.”

A few Indianapolis polling locations remained open three hours past the normal 6 p.m. closing time so voters in line could cast ballots, Hollis said. Several other counties also drastically slashed the number of polling sites open Tuesday. St. Joseph County, for instance, had 12 sites open in and around South Bend rather than the 120 planned before the pandemic struck.

The long lines at Indianapolis polling sites was the only significant issue reported statewide, Indiana Secretary of State’s office spokesman Ian Hauer said.

Some people questioned whether voters need to wear face masks inside polling sites. While state election officials encouraged voters to wear face masks, Hauer said they were not required to do so.

Some county election administrators and candidates have said they worried that thousands of mail-in ballots could go uncounted if they arrived at election offices after the noon Tuesday deadline. The huge increase in mail-in ballots also has election officials warning it could take more than one day to tally them all, possibly delaying determination of some primary winners.

Lake County Democratic Party chairman James Wieser said his county received more than 25,000 absentee ballots and that officials began counting them at 8 a.m. Tuesday. He was unsure when the count would be completed.

Elsewhere in Indiana, the following results in congressional primaries were projected by the New York Times:

2nd District: Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski was projected to defeat challenger Christopher Davis with about 79% of the vote. She will face Democrat Patricia Hackett, who won about 77% of the vote against primary challenger Ellen Marks in the north-central Indiana district.

3rd District: The Democratic primary race was too close to call Wednesday morning. Chip Coldiron led Carlos Marcano, 33% to 32.3%, in a four-person race in the northeastern Indiana district, with about 70% of precincts reporting. Republican Rep. Jim Banks dispatched primary challenger Christoper Magiera with about 85% of the vote.

4th District: Democrat Joe Mackey prevailed with more than 54% of the vote in a four-person field to challenge GOP Rep. Jim Baird, who was unopposed in the district that includes portions of Tippecanoe, Hendricks, Howard and Cass counties.

6th District: Democrat Jeannine Lake gained more than 70% of the vote in a three-way race and will face Republican Rep. Greg Pence, who won more than 83% of the vote against primary challenger Mike Campbell. The district includes portions of Bartholomew, Hancock, Delaware and Wayne counties.

7th District: Republican Susan Smith bested the six-person field with 43% of the vote and will challenge Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, who handily defeated primary challenger Pierre Pullins in the Indianapolis district.

8th District: Democrat Thomasina Marsili was the projected winner in a close three-person field with about 36% of the vote against rivals Mike Webster and Ron Drake. Marsili will challenge Republican Rep. Larry Bucshon in the southwestern Indiana district.

9th District: Andy Ruff was projected the Democratic nominee with about 33% of the vote in a five-candidate field. Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth was unopposed in the south-central Indiana district.