A campaign ad accusing U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz of $5 million in stock trading has prompted her attorneys to demand that three Indianapolis television stations stop airing it. They argue the ad misstates both the amount and who made the trades, and have threatened legal action.
The letters were sent Thursday to WISH-TV, WNDY-TV and WRTV, according to IndyStar. They demanded the stations immediately remove the 30-second advertisement, released by CommonSense Hoosiers PAC, which the outlet describes as only two weeks old. The ad accuses Spartz of profiting from stock trades in industries she regulates as a member of Congress.
Spartz's attorneys challenge both the ad's calculation and its characterization of the transactions. They say the $5 million figure uses the high end of a reported transaction-value range and that Spartz did not make the transactions cited in the ad.
Whose Trades Are They, Exactly?
The dispute centers on a 2024 transaction: Jason Spartz, the congresswoman's husband, reported selling Simon Property Group stock within a retirement account, with a reported sale value listed between $1 million and $5 million. Spartz's lawyers said every transaction she has reported was made within Roth IRA accounts held by her husband and dependent children, not by her personally.
What a Financial Disclosure Shows
In the 2024 transaction at issue, the reported sale value was listed in a range of $1 million to $5 million. House Committee on Ethics guidance says a filer may have to report a transaction even if they did not conduct or direct it. A disclosure alone, therefore, does not establish who personally made the investment decision.
The congresswoman reinforced that distinction earlier this month. On September 18, she wrote that she had never personally owned any individual stocks, according to the same IndyStar report. Her attorneys have called the PAC's commercial defamatory and its central claim undeniably inaccurate.
A Political Rematch Heats Up
The ad fight is unfolding as state Sen. J.D. Ford, a candidate for the 5th Congressional District, runs to unseat Spartz in November. Ford has said Spartz traded $5 million in stocks in industries she regulated while in Congress, and he has argued she fought against reforms meant to stop members of Congress from insider trading.
Spartz has denied the claim that she traded $5 million in stocks in regulated industries. She voted in July to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, a legislative record her camp points to as at odds with Ford's characterization.
PAC Ties and Unanswered Questions
CommonSense Hoosiers PAC is not officially connected with Ford's campaign, per IndyStar's reporting, but the group's listed email address is associated with Left Field Compliance, a consulting group whose co-founder serves as Ford's campaign treasurer. Circle City Broadcasting, which owns WISH-TV, WNDY-TV and WRTV, did not return IndyStar's requests for comment on the cease-and-desist letters.
It remains unclear whether the stations have responded to the demands or whether the advertisement is still airing. The dispute adds a legal edge to an already sharp contest for the 5th District seat, with both sides trading accusations over financial disclosures and legislative records ahead of the November election.
