Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and two of her staffers had been killed in a car crash on Wednesday, authorities stated. Walorski was 58.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy first confirmed Walorski’s dying in a tweet earlier Wednesday.
McCarthy stated he spoke to Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, who was knowledgeable of her dying by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s workplace on Wednesday afternoon.
“This news is absolutely devastating,” McCarthy stated in a press release. “Jackie was a dear friend, trusted advisor, and the embodiment of integrity who achieved the admiration and respect of all her colleagues in the House.”
Walorski District Director Zachery Potts, 27, and her Communications Director Emma Thomson, 28, additionally died in the two-car collision. Their deaths had been confirmed by the sheriff’s workplace in a Facebook post. “A northbound passenger car traveled left of center and collided head on” with Walorski’s car, the sheriff’s workplace wrote. The driver of that car was additionally killed.
“Devastated to hear the horrible news of the passing of Jackie Walorski and her two staffers,” Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., tweeted. “She was a dear friend who loved serving the people of Indiana in Congress.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was touring in Asia, ordered the flags on the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of Walorski and her staffers, her spokesman said.
“A lifelong Hoosier, Congresswoman Walorski lived a lifetime of service: whether or not caring for impoverished kids in Romania, representing her neighborhood in the Indiana Statehouse or serving almost a decade in the House,” Pelosi said in a statement. “She passionately introduced the voices of her north Indiana constituents to the Congress, and she or he was admired by colleagues on each side of the aisle for her private kindness.”
A former Indiana state lawmaker, Walorski was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was running for her sixth term this fall. She was well-liked by her Republican and Democratic colleagues in the House, where she was close to McCarthy and his leadership team.
McCarthy named her the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee, and she was set to be chairman of the bipartisan committee if Republicans won the majority in November.
“When there was a vacancy for Republican leader of the Ethics Committee, she was my first call,” McCarthy stated in a press release. “Everyone who knew Jackie knows she was tough, but fair — a no nonsense, straight shooter who knew that Congress must reflect the will of the people with decency and honesty.”
Ethics Committee Chairman Ted Deutch, D-Fla., labored carefully with Walorski on a weekly foundation, as their panel met to offer ethics coaching and examine any violations of House guidelines by lawmakers or their aides.
“As partisan as Congress has turn into, it’s nonetheless a household, and this loss hits near house,” Deutch said in a statement. “Jackie Walorski was a colleague and a good friend. She cared deeply concerning the House and about her constituents, and she or he will likely be dearly missed by all of us.”
Many of her colleagues in the Indiana delegation also tweeted their sympathies shortly after her death was announced.
“I’m really devastated. Jackie cherished Hoosiers and devoted her life to preventing for them,” tweeted Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who had served with Walorski in the House. “I’ll always remember her spirit, her constructive angle, and most significantly her friendship.”
“My coronary heart is heavy with the news from northern Indiana. Jackie was a real good friend & an unbelievable colleague,” tweeted Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind. “Hoosiers have misplaced a champion & devoted public servant.”
