A few hundred people turned out Wednesday to hear the Democratic primary candidates vying for U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz’s 5th Congressional District seat. The seven candidates answered questions during a forum in Fishers about multiple issues facing the community, including government reform, health care and affordability issues.
Spartz, a Republican, has held the seat since 2021 and is seeking a fourth term. The congresswoman has articulated a fiscally conservative platform. Last year, Spartz came out in support of President Donald Trump’s push for Indiana lawmakers to redraw congressional districts in favor of the GOP. The effort, defeated in December, would have altered the boundaries of her district.
Blaming Spartz for various Republican policies became a theme among the Democratic candidates at the forum.
The seven Democratic candidates include: Steve Avit, State Sen. J.D. Ford, Jackson Franklin, Phil Goss, Dylan McKenna, Tara Nelson and Deborah Pickett. All said they would back whoever wins their primary in an effort to unseat Spartz.
Moderators gave them time to share views on several topics: women’s reproductive rights, labor, ethics and campaign finance, health care and social safety net programs, immigration enforcement, and affordability and energy costs.
Franklin is a progressive from Muncie and a former combat medic. He’s passionate about the working class and fighting President Donald Trump.
“We, of course, need to abolish ICE. They are not reformable. There’s not, ‘Oh, let’s just defund them,’ or ‘Let’s just replace them,’ or swap the letters around, and everything’s going to be okay,” he said. “I view them as the Gestapo.”
He also supports a Green New Deal in order to revitalize renewable energy and create jobs, saying there should be a “complete moratorium” on data center construction and that they should “pay their own damn bill.”
Ford said he’s taken action on affordability issues — including utilities — in the Indiana General Assembly.
"We passed House Bill 1002, which is a sweeping change and a win for Hoosiers,” Ford said. “Part of that bill included language that I had about making sure that we’re not disconnecting service from Hoosiers, particularly in the summertime when it’s over 95 degrees."
All candidates said they supported protecting the reproductive rights of women in law. Pickett, who lost to Spartz in the 2024 election, wants to pass laws that protect reproductive rights, bodily autonomy and personal freedom.
“It’s not only the right to have an abortion, a right to have full control over the decisions you make regarding your body, but it’s also rights regarding the LGBTQ community,” she said. “So many feel very disenfranchised and feel very fearful about what they are facing around this country and in this state."
Phil Goss is from Noblesville. He said current federal campaign finance law “keeps politics dirty” and wants to end the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC.
“But moving beyond that, what must also change? Transparency,” he said. “When we shine light on something, that’s when the flowers grow, that’s when we have progress.”
Many of the candidates agreed on policies on the different topics to varying degrees. Tara Nelson, from Carmel, said she has three top priorities: “First is impeach Trump. Second, immigration reform, and third is universal health care.”
Many candidates also support universal health care policies.
Spartz faces a Republican primary challenger of her own, Scott Anthony King.
The Hamilton County Democratic Party held the event at the Fishers Art Center. The district currently includes Hamilton, Delaware, Grant, Howard, Madison and Tipton counties.
The two moderators for the event were Robin Winston, of Winston/Terrell Group and former chairperson of the Indiana Democratic Party, and University of Indianapolis political science professor Laura Merrifield Wilson. They candidates questions in rotating alphabetical order by name.
Wilson told WFYI that she’ll be watching voter turnout for the primary, saying that she took away that the Democratic Party is serious about unseating Spartz in November.
“Typically when you have a crowded primary, name recognition and funding, infrastructure and message are everything. So, an opportunity like this is really good, especially for maybe lesser-known candidates, to get their message out there, to connect and resonate with the audience,” she said, noting Franklin distinguished himself from other candidates.
The Indiana primary election is May 5. Early voting is underway.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.
