WASHINGTON — Rep. Jackie Walorski, Republican of Indiana, was killed in a car crash in her district on Wednesday, according to her office. She was 58.
Ms. Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, was notified of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office, her office said in a statement. “She has returned home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” the statement said. “Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Ms. Walorski was traveling with two assistants who were also killed in the crash, when a car and a sport utility vehicle collided head-on: Zachery Potts, 27, her district director, and Emma Thomson, 28, her director of communications. according to the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office. The driver of the oncoming car also died.
“They were the epitome of public servants who cared deeply about the work they did on behalf of the constituents of Indiana’s Second Congressional District,” Tim Cummings, Ms. Walorski’s chief of staff, said of the aides.
The House is on summer recess, a period when lawmakers often return to their districts to meet with constituents.
“Jackie has been an important member of our conference, serving as my deputy alderman for several years,” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, said in a statement. “Jackie and her staff died serving their constituents. They will be missed and our nation will miss their service.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who praised Ms. Walorski for being “admired by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for her personal kindness,” ordered Capitol flags to be flown at half-staff. The White House said it would fly flags at half-staff on Wednesday and Thursday in memory of Ms Walorski.
“We may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues,” President Biden said in a statement, “but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee.”
Ms. Walorski, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was known as a moderate, was also the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee. She was among 147 Republicans who voted last year to override the 2020 election results.
“I share the concerns of many Hoosiers about the irregularities in the way some states conducted the 2020 presidential election,” Ms. Walorski said in a statement explaining her position.
She also voted against the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump last year. Mr Trump has endorsed her 2022 re-election campaign.
Ms. Walorski was staunchly anti-abortion and on Tuesday visited the Bella Vita Pregnancy Center in Knox, Ind., a nonprofit organization that helps women with unplanned pregnancies.
“Her Midwestern values of hard work, fairness and kindness were a model for members,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
Before being elected to Congress, Ms. Walorski served three terms in the Indiana State House, spent four years as a missionary in Romania and worked as a television reporter in South Bend, Indiana.
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