GOP Rep Vows She Won’t Abandon America

After initially deciding not to seek reelection in the 5th Congressional District of Indiana, Republican Victoria Spartz has changed her mind, saying she cannot “abandon” the country.

Although Spartz first said last year that she would not be running for reelection, she changed her mind and registered to run again five days before the deadline last week. She will now have to battle with almost a dozen other Republicans in the May primary for the party’s candidacy.

Last week, Spartz said that she does not slack off when making tough choices but that voters need to know they may choose someone who would stand up for conservative principles and not their agenda.

But Spartz didn’t get into the campaign until the very end—a few days before the May primary filing deadline in the state and months after other contenders had entered the contest to replace the vacant 5th District seat. This may hinder her efforts in some areas, particularly when seeking financial support.

Ten more Republicans have not bowed out of the race since Monday, when they registered to compete in the May primary for the 5th District. On Monday, several of them made venomous comments about Spartz.

Spartz said in December that she was wrestling with deciding whether to take a break to be with her family or continue working in Washington, D.C.

During a town hall in Carmel in late January, she kept telling people she was still deciding.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Spartz got into an exchange just before the September deadline for the government shutdown, during which McCarthy expressed his hope that Spartz would seek reelection rather than “quit.”

Shortly after, Spartz wrote on X that McCarthy’s wish might come true.

Her first term in Congress began in 2020, and she won a second term representing California’s 5th district in 2022. With nine Republicans having already submitted their candidacy papers to the Secretary of State to challenge Spartz, this development can significantly alter the congressional contest. At the end of the autumn election cycle, at least three new representatives will represent Indiana in Washington.

At the beginning of January, Spartz presented a measure to reintroduce the national debt to the attention of federal legislators.