Spartz won’t run for Senate – or reelection to the House – in 2024 – JP

In Washington, she has cultivated a reputation for independence and unpredictability. She criticized her party’s effort to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., of her membership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denouncing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s attempt to punish Omar as “a charade.” However Spartz ultimately voted in support of Omar’s removal on Thursday.

Spartz also seesawed on her support for McCarthy’s 15-ballot election for the speaker’s gavel in January. She voted for McCarthy three times on Jan. 3, then switched her vote to present for the next eight ballots on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5 before backing him on the final four ballots on Jan. 6.

Spartz, 44, never planned a long career in politics. In an interview with CQ JP, she described herself as a “reluctant politician.”

“I have a lot of my own things I wanted to do in life,” she said. “I’m going to get some stuff done and get the hell out of politics, for sure.”

Spartz won an open-seat race in Indiana’s 5th District in Indianapolis’ northern suburbs in 2020 by 4 percentage points, but won reelection in November by 22 points.