Indianapolis, Indiana: J.D. Ford Beats Victoria Spartz in 5th District Upset

Democrat J.D. Ford declared victory on Tuesday night in Indiana's 5th Congressional District, unseating three-term Republican U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz in one of the biggest upsets of the midterm elections in the Midwest. The Associated Press called the race for Ford at 1:03 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4. With nearly 99 percent of precincts reporting, Ford had 134,476 votes to Spartz's 125,851 in the Associated Press count, a margin of about 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent.

Ford, a two-term state senator from Indianapolis, never trailed as votes were counted on election night. An early vote drop in Hamilton County showed a 31-point swing from the county's 2024 early vote in the same race, according to Zachary Donnini of the political analysis organization Vote Hub, in reporting by the Indianapolis Star. Spartz had won reelection in 2024 by more than 18 percentage points, and President Donald Trump carried the district by about 17 points that year.

A district built around the Indianapolis suburbs

The 5th District runs from Indianapolis and its northern suburbs into north-central Indiana. It includes Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville in Hamilton County and reaches Anderson, Muncie and Marion. Ford celebrated with supporters at the Sun King Brewery in Fishers, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"Tonight, Hoosiers made history, and they sent a message that will be heard far beyond Indiana's 5th District," Ford said in a statement reported by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. "This victory belongs to every person who has felt ignored by Washington, every family struggling to make ends meet and every voter who refused to believe that change was impossible."

The win gives Democrats control of the seat for the first time since the 1990s, according to the Indianapolis Star. Republicans still appear to control six of Indiana's nine congressional districts, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.

A race that tightened late

National Democrats marked the district as competitive months before election day. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the 5th District to its list of competitive races in August. Days before the election, the Cook Political Report moved the contest from Likely Republican to Lean Republican. Spartz acknowledged the headwinds in an October interview with State Affairs, describing an extremely difficult political environment and pointing to economic concerns, population changes in the district and the risk of lower Republican turnout in a midterm.

Ford campaigned on household costs, healthcare and government accountability. He criticized President Trump's tariffs and their effect on Indiana families, farmers and businesses, and backed protecting Medicaid funding, preserving rural hospitals and lowering prescription drug costs. Spartz, a certified public accountant and former state senator who was born in Ukraine, campaigned on federal spending reductions, the national debt, border enforcement and healthcare price transparency.

Eight years in the Statehouse, then Washington

Ford was first elected to the Indiana Senate in 2018, when he defeated Republican incumbent Mike Delph and became the first openly gay member of the Indiana General Assembly. He won reelection in 2022 with 51.7 percent of the vote and has represented Senate District 29, which covers parts of Marion and Hamilton counties, for eight years. His move to Congress opens that Statehouse seat.

Spartz first won election to Congress in 2020, after Rep. Susan Brooks chose not to seek another term, and served three terms. Ford takes office in January for a two-year term.