Indiana’s hotly contested 5th District race in home stretch
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — It’s a race nearly every national political expert has called a toss-up.
Hoosiers in Indiana’s 5th District are less than 24 hours away from deciding who will be the next person to fill the seat.
The congressional seat has long been held by Republicans. But Tuesday’s general election is expected to be competitive.
That means a sea of campaign signs at polling places around the district. And people standing in line on the last day to vote early.
Indiana’s 5th congressional district race is one to watch.
News 8 was there as Republican candidate State Sen. Victoria Spartz stood in the cold to vote early this morning ahead of an event Monday evening.
Spartz greeted volunteers at polling places Monday morning, until polls closed for early voting, at noon, according to a campaign spokesperson.
“I feel great! I’ll feel even better on Wednesday. It’s been a long year, a very challenging year, said Spartz.
Democrat Christina Hale spent Monday talking to people on the phone and thanking supporters.
“I’m so looking forward to tomorrow,” Hale said Monday. “I think everybody is. It’s been a long, hard, heavy election cycle.”
As Indiana fights the coronavirus pandemic, Spartz told News 8 the number one issue on her mind is health care.
“We could see what innovations, like telehealth, could be used to help a lot of people in health care. So from all of the bad things that have happened, we also need to make sure how we can be more innovative, have less bureaucracy and pandemics like this show us that. But access and affordability is a huge issue,” Spartz explained.
Health care is top of mind for Hale, too, but from a different perspective.
“The Supreme Court’s going to take up the possible overturning of the Affordable Care Act a week after the election. That could leave hundreds of thousands of people here, our friends and neighbors, ourselves, without health care coverage if the Supreme Court does overturn the Affordable Care Act. We just can’t afford that,” Hale explained.
Hale and Spartz are vying for the seat in Congress that Rep. Susan Brooks, is leaving because she’s retiring.
Now in these final hours before Election Day, the push for your vote is in the home stretch.
“People have to come and vote tomorrow because this is a decision about the future of our republic,” Spartz said.
“I’m just encouraged to see Hoosiers with so much heart. They’re caring, they’re standing in line to vote because they know who they want to vote for. They’ve been paying attention,” Hale said.