Victoria Spartz

Victoria Spartz ( Kulheyko; uk, Вікторія Кульгейко , Viktoriya Kul'heyko; born October 6, 1978) is a Ukrainian-born American politician and businesswoman who is the U.S. representative for . A member of the Republican Party, she previously represented the 20th district in the Indiana Senate.

Early life and education

Victoria Kulheyko was born in Nosivka, Ukraine, which at the time was part of the USSR. Before moving to the U.S., she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kyiv National Economic University.

Spartz immigrated to the United States in 2000 at the age of 22 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006. She earned a Master of Accountancy from the Kelley School of Business of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.

Early career

Spartz held a certified public accountant license from 2010 to 2021 and a real estate broker license from 2003 to 2020, both from the State of Indiana.

Spartz was a founding member of the Hamilton County, Indiana, Tea Party. Before her appointment to the Indiana Senate, she served as CFO in the Indiana Attorney General's office. She was also an adjunct faculty member at the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis, and has owned real estate and farming businesses.

In 2017, Spartz was appointed to the Indiana Senate from the 20th district after Luke Kenley resigned.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

After incumbent Republican Susan Brooks announced in June 2019 that she would not seek reelection, Spartz announced her candidacy for Indiana's 5th congressional district. She won the Republican primary on June 2, 2020. The district had historically been a bastion of suburban conservatism, but had been heavily targeted by Democrats in the wake of Brooks's retirement and Donald Trump's growing unpopularity in suburban areas. The Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up.

Spartz won the November general election, defeating former state representative Christina Hale, the Democratic nominee, by four percent. This was the closest race in the district since it was reconfigured as a northern suburban district in 1983 (it had been numbered the 6th until 2003), and only the second time in that period that a Democrat had received at least 40% of the vote. Spartz prevailed by winning her home county of Hamilton, the most populous county entirely within the district, by 20,100 votes, more than her district-wide margin of just under 17,000 votes. She ran just behind Trump, who won the district with 50.1% of the vote.

Tenure

Spartz is the first Ukrainian-born female member of Congress and the first member born in a former Soviet republic. Members of Congress who were born in the then-Russian Empire, include Meyer London, Samuel Dickstein, Herman Kopplemann and Herman Toll.

In late 2020, Spartz was identified as a participant in the Freedom Force, a group of incoming Republican members of the House of Representatives who "say they're fighting against socialism in America".

Spartz's tenure has been marked by high staff turnover. Congressional watchdog Legistorm measured her turnover in 2021 at three and half times the average of offices of House members, the highest turnover for a non-retiring member. In May 2022, ''Politico'' reported on a toxic environment within her office, with Spartz's temper quickly jumping from tepid to boiling, and reported that "aides who have left after a couple of months did so because the work environment became untenable." Examples of the office environment included Spartz ordering staff to record her direction to staff and later denying the previously expressed instructions, despite the recordings. One former aide said, "the common theme: Staffers do their job, and then Victoria comes in saying that they have no idea what they’re doing, that they are 'morons,' calling them 'idiots.'" Spartz responded that her working style is "not for everyone" and that her critics "need to 'toughen up'".

In September 2022, ''Politico'' reported that Spartz is planning to run for the United States Senate in 2024; incumbent Senator Mike Braun is planning to run for governor of Indiana that year, leaving the seat open.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Spartz called the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "a genocide of the Ukrainian people by a crazy man." Spartz was one of the first US officials to call Russian actions "war crimes." At the time of the invasion, Spartz had family still living in Ukraine, including her grandmother, who was living in Chernihiv, which was under siege by Russia.

During the ongoing invasion, Spartz traveled to Ukraine twice in April 2022. The first time was an unannounced visit to Bucha with U.S. Senator Steve Daines. Spartz and Daines were the first two U.S officials to visit Ukraine since the war started. The second trip was to Lviv, Kyiv, and Odesa with Representative Tim Walberg. During the trip, Spartz met with Metropolitan Epifaniy. Spartz has been critical of the speed and effectiveness of international humanitarian aid efforts.

In July 2022, Spartz criticized Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of "playing politics and theater" and not governing seriously. In an interview with Ukrainian press, she accused the country's leaders of not preparing for war and not understanding the war's importance. She alleged that weapons sent to Ukraine may have ended up in Syria or Russia. She asserts that there is insufficient monitoring of U.S.-provided weaponry, and that Congress needs to take control in this area.

Also in July, Spartz enumerated six allegations of misbehavior against Andrii Yermak

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