Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski, 58, a former TV reporter in South Bend, Indiana, has died in a car crash, according to WSBT-TV.
The South Bend station reported that three others died in the head-on collision, including Walorski's communications director Emma Thomson, and Zachery Potts, her district director, who were both riding in the car with Walorski. The driver of the other vehicle also died.
Walorski's twitter account issued the following tweet Wednesday:
Dean Swihart, Jackie’s husband, was just informed by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s office that Jackie was killed in a car accident this afternoon. She has returned home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.August 3, 2022
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is an Indiana political veteran and former broadcaster, also tweeted.
.@KarenPence and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of our dear friend Rep. Jackie Walorski. She served Indiana in the Statehouse and the Congress with integrity and principle for nearly two decades and will be deeply missed.August 3, 2022
First elected to House in 2012, Walorski had served on the House Ways & Means Committee and was ranking member on the house Ethics Committee and the Subcomittee on Worker and Family Support.
She began her career as a reporter at WSBT-TV South Bend.
“NAB is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Rep. Walorski and her staffers, Zachery Potts and Emma Thomson," said National Association of Broadcasters President Curtis LeGeyt. "As a former broadcaster, Rep. Walorski had a first-hand appreciation for the importance of local radio and television stations to her constituents, and we greatly valued working with her to improve the lives of Indianans and the American people. NAB and broadcasters everywhere extend our deepest sympathies to her loved ones, friends and staff.”
The White House said it would fly its flags at half-staff Wednesday and Thursday in honor of Walorski.
"Born in her beloved South Bend as the daughter of a meat-cutter and firefighter, she spent a lifetime serving the community that she grew up in – as a journalist, a nonprofit director, a state legislator, and eventually as a Member of Congress for the past nine and half years," said the President.
Flags will also fly at half-staff at the Capitol. ■
