What is true and false in Spartz and Goodrich 5th Congressional District attack ads?

Victoria Spartz and Chuck Goodrich have swiped at each other since the day the congresswoman rejoined the primary for the 5th Congressional District in February.

Goodrich, the CEO of Gaylor Electric, had been campaigning for nearly eight months at the time Spartz reversed her decision not to seek reelection, bringing the power of incumbency back into a primary with seven other Republican candidates.

While attack ads and negative messaging are all part of campaigns and elections, the back-and-forth between Goodrich, a Noblesville state representative, and Spartz, the 5th District incumbent, is especially noticeable as the candidates take jabs at each other’s legislative and business records.

Raju Chinthala, Max Engling, Mark Hurt, Patrick Malayter, Matthew Peiffer, LD Powell and Larry Savage are also running in the Republican primary for the 5th District. However, internal polling from Spartz and Goodrich’s campaigns show the May election is likely a battle between those two candidates.

Here is IndyStar’s analysis of claims Spartz and Goodrich have lobbed at each other in the primary race.

CLAIM: Victoria Spartz “sent $40 billion to Ukraine before the border wall was completed.”

SOURCE: Goodrich campaign ad

FACT CHECK: In May 2022, Spartz, the only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, voted for the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provided $40.1 billion in emergency funds from U.S. agencies to Ukraine to help respond to Russia’s further invasion of the country in February 2022. The bill passed on a vote of 368-57 with overwhelming bipartisan support. Spartz was one of 149 House Republicans, including five others from Indiana, who voted to send that support to Ukraine in the months following Russia’s invasion. In Indiana’s delegation, only Rep. Jim Banks in the House and Mike Braun in the Senate voted against that bill in 2022.

From 2020: How Victoria Spartz's Ukrainian roots influence her conservative values

Spartz has been critical of U.S. and Ukrainian government leaders following the May 2022 vote, including this year when she called for the U.S. to loan help to Ukraine, not give it to the country outright. At the same time, public perception of the war has changed since early 2022. A Pew Research study in late 2023 found 48% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the U.S. was providing too much aid to the country.

The debate returned to the House of Representatives on April 20 when members voted to send additional aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. In the House, Spartz was one of 112 Republicans who voted against sending additional money to Ukraine.

CLAIM: Chuck Goodrich "voted to let Chinese companies buy Indiana farmland."

SOURCE: Spartz campaign ad

FACT CHECK: The Spartz campaign ad references a March 2024 story from the Indiana Capital Chronicle to back up its claim about Goodrich. That specific story highlights how state lawmakers reached an agreement at the end of this year's legislative session on a bill that prohibits U.S. foreign adversaries, including the Chinese government, from purchasing agricultural land in Indiana.

The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and Gov. Eric Holcomb signed it into law in March. Goodrich voted in favor of the bill when it initially passed the House in February and again to approve its conference committee report in March before it was sent to the governor’s desk.

IndyStar asked Spartz's campaign for details about the vote referenced in the ad and a campaign spokesperson pointed to "loopholes" in the bill that would allow Chinese companies to still renew leases made before July 1, 2024 and own land used for crop, timber and poultry farming.

CLAIM: Victoria Spartz is the “number one worst boss in all of Congress.”

SOURCE: Goodrich campaign ad

FACT CHECK: A nonpartisan group called LegiStorm, that tracks staff salaries and departures in Congress, released a list called “Worst Bosses?” two years ago, indicating Spartz had the highest turnover of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021. The group, which annually tracks staff turnover in Congress, gives members a rating based on salaries of staff that leave an office and the actual salaries paid to staff in that office.

A congressional reporter from the media outlet Politico reported on LegiStorm’s high 2021 turnover rating for Spartz in a story in May 2022 with anonymous sources that described an “unhealthy” work environment in the Congresswoman’s office. The former staffers and Republican insiders said Spartz was an “unpredictable boss” with a quick temper. Spartz responded to those allegations in the story and said her working style is “not for everyone.”

In 2023, LegiStorm ranked her the second worst boss in Congress, but turnover ratings of House members from 2001 through 2022 shows Spartz at the top of the “Worst Bosses?” list.

Spartz in a mid-April campaign email responded to Goodrich's ad and said Goodrich is attacking her because she is a "conservative fighter against the Biden administration."

CLAIM: Chuck Goodrich "passed a law that could give his company $40 million tax dollars."

SOURCE: Spartz campaign ad

FACT CHECK: During the 2023 legislative session, Goodrich carried a House priority bill on work-based learning opportunities that was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb. The Commission of Higher Education oversees two funding programs outlined in the bill: an intermediary grant program to build more connections between schools, students and the workforce and a career coaching grant program to make students aware of career options after high school.

Gaylor Electric, the company Goodrich leads, could potentially benefit from the legislation if the company ever participates in the career scholarship program, IndyStar reported in 2023, but it was never likely his company would receive the full $40 million total proposed at the time.

As of late April 2024, the state's Commission for Higher Education has awarded $5 million across 25 Indiana organizations to help connect high school students and employers, which was outlined in Goodrich's 2023 bill. Gaylor Electric was not one of those grantees.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at [email protected] or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: As Spartz and Goodrich lob attacks in the 5th, what's true and false?