A Crash In Elkhart County Killed U.s. Rep. Jackie Walorski And Three Others
U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski (R-2nd District) was killed in a car crash on Wednesday in Elkhart County, Indiana, according to the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department.
Three other people have also been killed in the crash, which occurred around 12:30 p.m. while Walorski and two others were traveling south on Indiana 19 south of Wakarusa in a vehicle, according to police.
A Crash In Elkhart County Killed U.s. Rep. Jackie Walorski And Three Others
The Walorski car collided with a car going north. The crash also resulted in the deaths of Zach Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, who were also in the car with Walorski at the time, and both died as a result of the crash.
Currently, 58-year-old Walorski represents Indiana’s 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, where he has served since 2013.
Potts was the chairman of the Republican Party in St. Joseph County at the time. Thomson was Walorski’s director of communications at the time.
According to media reports, the group was returning from a ribbon-cutting ceremony that had taken place in Claypool when they were attacked.
In the wake of the death of U.S. Rep. Walorski, Indiana, national leaders react to the death of the U.S. In the wake of the death of the U.S.
Police in Elkhart County is still investigating the crash as of this writing.
The driver of the northbound car was identified Wednesday afternoon as Edith Schmucker, 56, of Nappanee, and she was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
There has been a report from the sheriff’s department that Schmucker’s car crossed the center line and hit Walorski’s car head-on.
Fox59, the local television station in Indianapolis, reported Wednesday night that the department had retracted that statement and said that the initial information may have been inaccurate.
It was not possible for the Tribune to verify with the department Wednesday night whether the statement had been retracted or not.
There was no doubt Congresswoman Walorski had an infectious personality that captivated the attention of every room. She was a fierce advocate for her district, said Susan Baxmeyer, vice chair of the St.
Joseph County Republican Party, in a statement. “Never once was she without a smile, a kind word, or a rousing and inspiring message,” said Susan Baxmeyer.
Each day, she poured her heart and soul into the work that she did.
There is no denying that this district is losing an incredible representative, but there is no denying that it is losing a loyal friend on top of that.”
As a testament to the power of a passionate and powerful voice, Jackie’s work on behalf of our community, the state of Indiana, and the United States of America stands as a testimony to the power of that voice, and her extraordinary leadership can and has made a difference, first in our community, then in Indiana, and now across the United States,” Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood said.
Jackie’s legacy stands as a model to us all as one of an unwavering commitment to service to others and our country above ourselves as a woman of deep and enduring faith.
It goes without saying that Jackie has been and will always be a patriot,” he continued. “She will be greatly missed.”
According to Baxmeyer, Potts became involved with the Republican party while he was still in high school.
Along with serving as the county party chair, he also served as the district director for Walorski and was the district chair on the Indiana Republican Party State Committee.
The Republican who has served on the Mishawaka Common Council since 2012, Mike Bellovich, said Potts, who is only 27 years old, had done well to move the county Republican party forward during the last few years.
As Baxmeyer stated in her statement on Potts, he was not a person who accepted the odds without a fight.
The more you told him that it couldn’t be done, the more he worked harder. There was always a new challenge to face, another project to take on, and a campaign to win, no matter what.
Walorski’s local roots
58-year-old Walorski was born and raised in the Gilmer Park neighborhood of South Bend’s southern city limits, a short distance from the city center.
Her father, Raymond, was a South Bend firefighter who owned an appliance repair shop, and her mother, Martha, was a meat cutter at a grocery store who also worked as a firefighter.
As a reporter for WSBT-TV before taking a bachelor’s degree in communications and public administration from Taylor University, she spent the first four years of her career as a reporter for Liberty Baptist College and graduated from Taylor University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and public administration.
Following that, she held positions of leadership and fund-raising at the St. Joseph County Humane Society, Ancilla College, the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Indiana University South Bend before founding and operating a Christian ministry in Romania for four years with her husband, Dean Swihart. Elkhart County is home to the couple who live in the Jimtown area of the county.
In 2004, 2006, and 2008, Walorski was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives before she lost her first election for Congress in 2010 to two-term incumbent Joe Donnelly.
After the Republican-controlled Indiana General Assembly redrew the sprawling 10-county district to remove Michigan City, historically home to more Democrats, and add heavily Republican areas of Elkhart and Kosciusko counties, she managed to narrowly defeat Democrat Brendan Mullen in 2012. St. Joseph County has never been won by her, even though she won by 21 percentage points in 2014, 18 points in 2016, and 14 points in 2018.