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Dear Editor:
Greetings, fellow Hoosiers.
My name is Jeannine Lee Lake and I’m running for Congress in Indiana’s 5th District. which encompasses Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Grant, Howard and Tipton counties.
I’m hoping to unseat your current Congresswoman, Victoria Spartz, because, quite frankly, you all deserve much better representation than she is either able to give or willing to give.
And, I’m not just politicking here, friends; if Victoria Spartz wins re-election in the fall, Hoosiers in 5D will lose.
Women will lose their reproductive rights, workers will lose good union jobs and over 300,000 Indiana residents could be kicked off the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), which is tied to Obamacare, which she has repeatedly voted against.
We’ve seen her stance in the Indiana State Senate votes against women’s reproductive rights, and this past week, she’s voted in Congress to make it a crime to take someone across state lines for a legal abortion in another state (as with the 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio).
She’s also against safe gun legislation in strengthening background checks and is against creating a federal red flag law that could help tag people who are potentially dangerous to themselves or others.
Specifically, what I’m concerned about are the following issues, which go to the character of who she has been and who she will be in the future:
- Spartz doesn’t have Hoosier hospitality. According to multiple news outlets, including Fox News and Newsmax, Spartz has had the highest employee turnover rate of any member of Congress – which includes both the Senate and House. Numerous Republican employees have complained of her behavior toward them, ranging from insults to individual workers to unreasonable expectations from several members of her staff. Some might say that being a “horrible boss” isn’t much of an issue, but if she doesn’t value or work well with HER OWN staff, if she uses aggression on the folks she pays to help her, what makes anyone think she represents Indiana with the Hoosier Hospitality we proudly are known for?
- Spartz supports QAnon believers. In the two years since she beat Christina Hale by just 4 percent of the vote in 2020, Spartz has supported QAnon pushers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, causing U.S. Senator Todd Young to say publicly that “there’s no place for QAnon in the Republican Party.” Spartz defended Taylor Greene when the U.S. House voted to strip her from the House Budget and Education and Labor committees. The vote occurred after news reports uncovered Taylor Greene saying that the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was a hoax.
- Spartz denigrates Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. For reasons that completely make one wonder, Spartz has taken to recent statements decrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his administration as they continue to fight for freedom. Several Republicans in the House of Representatives are now speaking out publicly about concerns they have had and still have about her. “I don’t share her criticisms,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has worked with Spartz on Ukraine-related legislation. “I believe that the Zelenskyy government and the Ukrainian people have risen to the moment. It is in our national security interest to stand with the Ukrainian people and their elected leadership.”
I’m prepared to debate her in any arena and to ask her about these various areas of concerns. I’m proud to say that I WILL fight for a woman’s right to choose, I WILL fight for affordable healthcare for Hoosiers, I WILL fight for LBGTQ+ communities and I will fight for soldiers, veterans and police who risk their lives every single day to keep us all safe.
My name is Jeannine Lee Lake and I’m going to do everything I can to be your next Congresswoman.
I look forward to meeting you all and will come to any event, fair, festival or church I am invited to as we visit Hamilton County. Thank you. God bless you, your family and the United States of America.
Jeannine Lee Lake
Democratic congressional candidate for Indiana’s 5th District