Jackie Walorski, an Indiana congresswoman, was killed in a car accident

Jackie Walorski, an Indiana congresswoman, was killed in a car accident.

Republican Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski was killed in a car accident Wednesday, according to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office.

 

Walorski, 58, was in a southbound SUV when it was hit head-on by another car shortly after 12:30 p.m., according to Sheriff Jeff Siegel. Walorski, her district director Zachery Potts, 27, and communications director Emma Thomson, 28, were all killed as a result of their injuries.

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.

— Jackie Walorski (@RepWalorski) August 3, 2022

According to Siegel, the sole passenger of the other car involved in the crash, which was traveling northbound, was also pronounced dead at the scene.

 

In a statement, President Biden said he and first wife Jill Biden were "shocked and saddened" by the news. "She spent a lifetime helping the community in which she grew up," he added of Walorski. She was respected by members of both parties for her work even though we represented opposing parties and had divergent opinions on many matters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the United States Capitol to be flown at half-staff, according to her spokesperson, Drew Hammill. The White House flags will also be flown at half-staff on Wednesday and Thursday in Walorski's honor, according to the White House.

After three terms in the Indiana statehouse, Walorski was elected to represent Indiana's 2nd Congressional District, which includes South Bend, in 2012. She was the House Ethics Committee's top Republican, and she also served on the Ways and Means Committee.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed Walorski's death in a tweet from her office, stating that her husband, Dean Swihart, was informed the representative was killed in the collision.