Ex-Indiana lawmaker seeks 2022 challenge to GOP Rep. Spartz

ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) — A Democratic former Indiana state legislator is looking to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz in next year’s election.

Former state Rep. Melanie Wright of Yorktown said she believed a moderate message could win in central Indiana’s 5th District.

Spartz won her first term in Congress after a tight and expensive campaign last year against Democrat Christina Hale. But the Republican redrawing of congressional districts boosted Spartz by shifting the Democratic-leaning north side of Indianapolis out of the 5th District.

Wright, a music teacher at Daleville Elementary School, won election three times to the Indiana House before being defeated in 2020.