Dem
47
GOP
53
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) is the only member of Congress born and raised in Ukraine. Her maiden name is Вікторія Кульгейко. She immigrated to the U.S. at 22. She was an accountant and a real estate broker until being elected to Congress in 2020. Some of her colleagues see her as rather flaky. She is often a thorn in Speaker Mike Johnson's side.
On Friday, she held a town hall in Westfield, IN—a wealthy, well-educated suburb of Indianapolis. She didn't have to hold a town hall. In fact, the NRCC has advised Republicans against meeting with their constituents, but she did it anyway. It was well attended by Democrats and independents. There were 500 people inside the hall and another 100 outside. They were not happy, mostly due to Signalgate.
The whole evening, Spartz's constituents yelled at her and she yelled right back. At one point, she said: "If you just came here to scream then we're not going to have a conversation." Her district is R+11, so it would take a blue tidal wave to dislodge her, but the anger was palpable. One of her constituents, Stephanie from Carmel (Mike Pence's town), asked whether Spartz would demand the resignation of the people who blew it in the chat. Spartz replied: "Resignations go to the Senate anyway, so you should talk to the senators." That shows her ignorance of the Constitution. While she didn't learn about it in sixth grade, she could have boned up on it before running for Congress. First, anyone can demand that a public official resign. That privilege is not limited to senators. Second, if the official refuses, the official can be impeached and the impeachment process starts in the House, not the Senate (which only enters the picture after an official has been impeached). Don't they give new representatives a list entitled: "Things you can now do as a representative"? Spartz did say that she would not even demand the resignations of the people involved, let alone introduce a resolution to impeach them.
Spartz also defended Co-president Elon Musk. She said he has discovered fraud, waste, and abuse. She also said he was trying to bring technology into the government.
She also defended her vote against granting $61 billion in military aid to her native Ukraine. At least she didn't say: "Even I don't care about my native country, so why should you?"
To her credit, Spartz did not storm off in the middle. She kept fighting back until the very end, and even after the official town hall was over, she stayed around and continued to answer questions from angry constituents. Voters hate congresscritters who hide from the voters, but Spartz was out there taking all the incoming flak and sending it right back out. She did not hide. (V)