Democrat J.D. Ford’s congressional campaign announced it raised more than $365,000 in the second quarter of 2026, a haul the campaign says came overwhelmingly from Hoosiers as he challenges Republican incumbent Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.
The campaign said more than 90 percent of donors were based in Indiana. The figures are self-reported and cannot be independently verified until quarterly reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission, due July 15.
“I’m honored and grateful for the support of our friends and neighbors,” Ford said in a statement. “This outpouring of energy shows that Hoosiers are ready for a leader in Washington who will fight for affordability and accountability.”
Ford, a state senator from Carmel serving his second term, won a crowded seven-way Democratic primary on May 5. He has said his run was motivated by Indiana Republicans’ failed effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps, which Spartz supported.
Spartz’s finances
If accurate, Ford’s quarter would far outpace the incumbent’s recent fundraising. FEC records show Spartz’s campaign raised about $1.09 million from January 2025 through April 15, 2026 — but only about $57,700 of that came in the first quarter of 2026, according to her April filing.
Her campaign has also been spending faster than it takes money in. It reported roughly $56,000 in cash on hand as of April 15, down from $258,000 at the start of the cycle, and carried $200,000 in debt. Much of the spending went to repaying $525,000 in loans Spartz had made to her own campaign. Spartz’s second-quarter numbers, covering the period after her primary win over Scott King, are not yet public.
A poll with caveats
Ford’s campaign paired the fundraising announcement with an internal poll it commissioned, which it says shows nearly two-thirds of district voters want new representation and shows Ford leading Spartz “after messaging” — that is, after respondents heard campaign arguments, a technique that typically produces more favorable results for the sponsoring candidate than an initial head-to-head. Internal polls released by campaigns should be viewed cautiously; no independent public polling of the race has been released.
An uphill district
Despite Spartz’s thin bank account, Ford faces difficult terrain. The 5th District — covering Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Grant, Howard and Tipton counties in Indianapolis’ northern suburbs and beyond — has not elected a Democrat since Jim Jontz in 1990. After Spartz won her first race by a narrow margin in 2020, the district was redrawn to strengthen its Republican lean, and she won reelection comfortably in 2022 and 2024, most recently defeating Democrat Deborah Pickett, who took about 38 percent of the vote.
Spartz, a Ukrainian-born certified public accountant from Carmel first elected in 2020, announced in 2023 that she would retire, then reversed course. She has said she is seeking a fourth term “to help get our Republic back on track fiscally.”
The general election is November 3.