The National Republican Congressional Committee has so far been reluctant to embrace Republican candidate Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District after three of their preferred candidates were unable to make it through the crowded clown car of a primary.
A quick reminder of just how much the NRCC wanted anyone but Spartz to come out of this primary:
- Three other Republican candidates – Kelly Mitchell, Chuck Dietzen, Beth Henderson – were all named to the lowest level of the NRCC’s Young Guns program.
- Indiana Treasurer Kelly Mitchell, who was “initially thought to be the likely front-runner because of her statewide name recognition,” raised an embarrassingly little amount of money in the primary and came in 6th
- Republicans have privately admitted that Spartz’s “personal style and conservatism could jeopardize the GOP’s hold on the seat in the general election,” given the purple nature of the district, not to mention her questionable business dealings that were a flash point in the primary.
Race raters believe that Hale’s “chances improved when Republicans nominated conservative state Sen. Victoria Spartz.”
“The NRCC clearly knows the impact their failure to push one of their many preferred candidates through this primary will have in Indiana’s rapidly changing Fifth District, so it’s no wonder they have yet to fully embrace an ultra-conservative candidate with a mysterious business history like Victoria Spartz,” said DCCC Spokesperson Courtney Rice.
###