J.D. Ford flipped a barn-red district in one of the nation’s most reliably Republican states. Now, like many of his soon-to-be colleagues across the country, the unlikely Democratic midterm winner is thinking about how to keep from becoming a one-term congressman.
Ford ousted Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th District — terrain that stretches from the wealthy suburbs northeast of Indianapolis into farm country and old automotive industrial towns in the state’s north-central region. President Donald Trump won there by 17 percentage points in 2024, and Spartz outperformed him, winning by nearly 19 points.
