GOP Congresswoman Initially Opposed to Removing Ilhan Omar from Her Committee Seat Announces She Isn’t Running for Re-Election

Friday, U.S. House Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) issued a statement announcing she would not be seeking any public office in 2024.

“It’s been my honor representing Hoosiers in the Indiana State Senate and U.S. Congress and I appreciate the strong support on the ground. 2024 will mark seven years of holding elected office and over a decade in Republican politics. I won a lot of thought battles for the people and will work hard to win a few more in the next two years. However, being a working mom is tough and I need to spend more time with my two high school girls back home, so I will not run for any office in 2024.”

INBOX: Rep. Victoria Spartz will not run for office in 2024: pic.twitter.com/W58Fw5xO1u

— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) February 3, 2023

This announcement comes a day after House Republicans voted to remove U.S. House Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Spartz had been vocal before the vote, that she did not support removing Omar from her Committee assignment.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was able to wrangle Spartz into voting to remove Omar in the end. It isn’t clear if this vote had anything to do with her decision to leave office.

Spartz also put up resistance during the numerous Speaker of the House votes earlier this year, she voted present in a number of the votes. She wanted discussions to take place instead of repeated voting. She did support McCarthy for Speaker but didn’t like the display that was played out in the public.

Spartz’s announcement clears up any speculation that she was planning to run for outgoing U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) who has thrown his hat in the ring for Indiana’s governor’s race.

This now sets up U.S. House Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) to run for the Senate seat as former governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels announced he was not going to seek the open seat.

Banks announced he would be running for the seat earlier this month. “I just believe Indiana is a conservative state and deserves a conservative senator to replace Mike Braun. I think we need new young conservative leaders to run for the Senate and go there and shake it up,” Banks told the IndyStar about his run.