Jackie Walorski

Early life, education, and career

Born in South Bend, Indiana on August 13, 1963, Walorski grew up with her two older brothers in the city's Gilmer Park neighborhood. Her mother, Martha C. (née Martin), worked as a meat cutter at a local grocery store, and her father, Raymond B. Walorski, worked as a firefighter and owned an appliance store. She has Polish and German ancestry. As a child, she attended Hay Elementary School and graduated from Riley High School in 1981. She then attended Liberty Baptist College from 1981–83, and graduated from Taylor University, receiving her B.A. in Communications and Public Administration in 1985.

Walorski began her career as a television reporter for WSBT-TV, a CBS affiliate in South Bend, from 1985 to 1989, and was the executive director of the St. Joseph County Humane Society from 1989-91. Walorski was appointed as the director of institutional advancement at Ancilla College in 1991, a position she held until she was appointed as the director of membership at the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce in 1996. She later worked as the director of annual giving at Indiana University South Bend from 1997-99.

Walorski moved to Romania in 2000 and founded Impact International; a foundation to provide medical supplies and attention to impoverished children. Walorski did Christian missionary work in Romania before returning to the U.S. in 2004.

Elections

In 2004, Walorski ran for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives after incumbent Republican State Representative Richard Mangus of decided to retire. She ran for Indiana's 21st District, a district which represented the suburban area between South Bend and Elkhart. Walorski defeated Democrat Carl H. Kaser 64%–36%. In 2006, she won a second term with 53% of the vote. In 2008, she won a third term unopposed.

Tenure

During her tenure in the Indiana House, Walorski was a sponsor of Indiana's Voter ID law, requiring voters to present Government issued identification during in person voting. The Voter ID law led to many lawsuits and was brought before the Supreme Court, where the law was upheld in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, and is cited as helping the expansion of Voter ID laws in other states.

Walorski has been criticized for missing a committee vote and the opportunity for stopping the Daylight Saving Time bill from passing out of committee, even though that bill died on the House floor. After a different bill passed introducing DST, she authored and introduced a bill to rescind DST, a measure that ended up dying.

Walorski authored legislation combating identity theft, including in 2006 when she sponsored a bill requiring companies to notify customers who are Indiana residents, of any security breaches that could cause identity theft, identity deception or fraud, and making it a Class C felony and imposing a $50,000 fine on anyone who has the identities of over 100 persons. With Walorski saying that "Identity theft is the most rapidly growing crime in the United States. We need to find a solution to this problem before it gets any bigger in Indiana."

Committee assignments

Walorski became active in the caucus and was appointed as Assistant Floor Leader. She served on the Family, Children, & Human Affairs and the Public Policy committees.

Elections

On January 31, 2009, Walorski formally announced her bid to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Joe Donnelly in Indiana's 2nd congressional district. Walorski won the Republican primary on May 4, 2010 with 61% of the votes, defeating opponents Martin Dolan, Jack Jordan, and Tony Zirkle. She was defeated, 48%–47% on November 2, 2010 by Donnelly.

On March 22, 2011, Walorski announced that she would run for Indiana's 2nd Congressional District again. Over the Indiana legislature's 2011-2013 legislative session, the predominantly Republican Indiana House and Senate redrew Indiana's congressional districts. After redistricting, the newly drawn 2nd district included all Elkhart County, Walorski's home county, and the demographics of the new district included more registered Republican voters.

Incumbent Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly decided not to seek re-election, opting instead to run for the U.S. Senate. Walorski ran against Libertarian candidate Joe Ruiz of Mishawaka and Democratic candidate Brendan Mullen of Granger, an Iraq War veteran.

On May 8, 2012, Walorski easily won the primary election with 73% of the vote, winning all 10 counties in the 2nd District. Many articles have been written about Walorski's role as a woman running for Congress.

Walorski defeated Mullen 49%–48%. She took office on January 3, 2013. At the same time, Donnelly was elected to the Senate.

Tenure

Walorski is a strong supporter of a balanced budget amendment and has advocated privatizing Social Security. In March 2010 she said, “I think the one thing we have to do is the thing that Bush actually tried to do a couple years ago, which is privatize Social Security and allow people to invest in their own retirement.” She received endorsements from the National Federation of Small Business and the U.S. and Indiana Chambers of Commerce.

Walorski voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. She supports Trump's healthcare plan, stripping millions of their healthcare and giving tax breaks to the rich.

In 2015, Walorski rejected the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill banning Late termination of pregnancy or late-term abortions, an abortion procedure given beyond 20 weeks into a pregnancy. In 2013, Walorski had said she would support a ban on late-term abortions.

Committee assignments

National security

Walorski supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. She believes that it "will allow our national security officials to examine the vetting process and strengthen safeguards to prevent terrorists from entering our homeland."

Personal life

In 1995, Walorski married her husband, Dean Swihart, a schoolteacher in Mishawaka. She resides in Jimtown, an unincorporated suburban community west of Elkhart, and is a member of Hope City Church (formerly Calvary Temple and Southgate Church), an Assemblies of God megachurch in South Bend.

Electoral history