Jackie Walorski, a 58-year-old Republican Representative for the State of Indiana, died in a car crash on Wednesday, along with two other members of her team.
CBS says that Jackie Walorski and her team were driving in an SUV around 12:30 p.m. when they crashed into another car. Walorski died along with Emma Thomson, 28, who was in charge of communications, and Zachary Potts, 27, who was in charge of the district. The person who was driving the other car also died at the scene.
Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the minority party in the House, talked about Walorski’s sad death in an official statement.
“The Elkhart County Sheriff’s office just told Jackie’s husband Dean Swihart that she died in a car accident this afternoon.”
He kept going:
“She has gone back home to be with Jesus Christ, who is her Lord and Savior. Please think about and pray for her family. We won’t say anything else at this time.”
Jackie Walorski started working in politics in 2004 after four years as a TV reporter for WSBT-TV and running a Christian charity in Romania. When she got back to the US, she ran for the Indiana House of Representatives. She won and started a long career with the Republican party.
During her time as a representative, Walorski was known for passing laws that required voters to show ID at elections and laws that made it harder for people to steal other people’s identities. She was also one of a number of Republicans who voted against removing Donald Trump from office in 2021.
Todd Young, a senator from Indiana, wrote a Tweet about how sad he was about Walorski’s death.
“She served Indiana with honesty and integrity in the state legislature and Congress for almost 20 years, and she will be greatly missed.”
NPR said that Walorski’s last election was the Republican Primary in the 2nd Congressional District, which she won in 2022.
“She served Indiana with honesty and integrity in the state legislature and Congress for almost 20 years, and she will be greatly missed.”
In an official statement, President Joe Biden called her a hard-working politician and said that, even though he is a Democrat, he knew this to be true.