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In an upset that many analysts did not see coming, Democratic nominee J.D. Ford defeated three-term Rep. Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District in Tuesday’s election.
The Democratic pickup came in a district that President Donald Trump won by nearly 17 percentage points two years ago.
READ MORE: Trump says Democrats ‘did a good job,’ blames Republican candidates for midterm losses
Ford is the first openly gay member of the Indiana General Assembly. Spartz is the first and only Ukrainian-born member of Congress.
The defeat demonstrated the Democratic Party’s success this election cycle breaking through not just in the nation’s traditional battleground districts, but in several deep red ones as well.
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