Born in South Bend, Indiana, on August 17, 1963,[1] 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.[2][3] She had Polish and German ancestry.[4] As a child, she attended Hay Elementary School and graduated from Riley High School in 1981.[2] She then attended Liberty Baptist College from 1981 to 1983, and graduated from Taylor University, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and public administration in 1985.[5]
Walorski moved to Romania in 2000 and founded Impact International, a foundation to provide medical supplies and attention to impoverished children.[7] She did Christian missionary work in Romania before returning to the U.S. in 2004.[8]
In 2004, Walorski ran for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives after incumbent Republican State Representative Richard W. Mangus decided to retire. She ran in Indiana's 2nd District, which included the suburban area between South Bend and Elkhart. Walorski defeated Democrat Carl H. Kaser, 64%–36%.[9] In 2006, she won a second term with 53% of the vote.[10] In 2008, she won a third term unopposed.[11]
During her tenure in the Indiana House, Walorski sponsored Indiana's Voter ID law, requiring voters to present government-issued identification during in-person voting.[4] The voter ID law led to many lawsuits and was brought before the Supreme Court, where it was upheld in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, and has been cited as helping the expansion of voter ID laws in other states.[12]
Walorski was criticized for missing a committee vote and the opportunity for stopping the daylight saving time (DST) bill from passing out of committee, even though that bill died on the House floor.[13][14] After a different bill passed introducing DST, she authored and introduced a bill to rescind DST, a measure that ended up dying.[14]
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, making it a Class C felony and imposing a $50,000 fine on anyone who has the identities of over 100 persons.[15] "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", she said.[16]
Walorski became active in the caucus and was appointed Assistant Floor Leader. She served on the Family, Children, & Human Affairs and the Public Policy committees.[17]
Within months of the general election, Walorski announced her plan to contest the seat again in 2012. During 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 of Elkhart County, Walorski's home county, and the demographics of the new district included more registered Republican voters.[22] Had the district existed with these lines in 2008, Barack Obama would have won it by just 0.3 percentage points, 49.6% to John McCain's 49.3%.[23] In contrast, he won the old 2nd with 54% of the vote.[24]
Donnelly decided not to seek reelection, opting instead to run for the U.S. Senate.[25] Walorski won the 2012 primary election with 73% of the vote, winning all ten counties in the 2nd District.[26][failed verification] In the general election, she faced Libertarian nominee Joe Ruiz of Mishawaka and Democratic nominee Brendan Mullen of Granger, an Iraq War veteran.[citation needed] Walorski defeated Mullen 49%–48%,[27] likely helped by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carrying her district with 56% of the vote.[28] At the same time, Donnelly was elected to the Senate.[29]
On May 25, 2018, Walorski introduced legislation to double the death gratuity the federal government pays to the families of service members killed on active duty. The legislation would have increased the death gratuity from $100,000 to $200,000. Under the bill, the government would have paid at least 60% of the benefit to the surviving spouse, and service members could have chosen how to disburse the remaining 40%. The bill also would have capped Congress members' death benefits at $74,000. The cap would have resulted in a payment of about $100,000 less than would be paid under the current system.[41]
Walorski 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."[43]
In 2018, Walorski said she opposed the Trump tariffs on goods imported from U.S. allies. She said that such duties threaten U.S. businesses and workers. These include a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum. Walorski also asked that the system for granting exclusions for certain products be accelerated.[45]
In 2015, Walorski raised objections to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill banning late termination of pregnancy, an abortion procedure given beyond 20 weeks into a pregnancy. She had supported the 2013 version,[46][47] but removed her name from the 2015 House bill in mid-January. The 2015 bill had an exemption for those seeking an abortion due to rape, but required that the person seeking the exemption report the rape to the police past 20 weeks.[48] House Republicans canceled a planned vote shortly afterward due to opposition from Walorski and Representative Renee Ellmers, and other Republicans expressing concerns about the bill.[49] A modified version of the bill was proposed in 2015, with modifications to remove the requirement to report a rape to the police. This version instead allowed abortions past 20 weeks in cases of rape, with the requirement that those pregnant due to rape would need to seek medical care or counseling before getting an abortion. Walorski voted for this version of the House bill in May.[50][51] Walorski would also go on to vote for the 2017 version of the bill.[52][53]
In October 2017, Walorski asked the Indiana State Department of Health to deny an application to open an abortion clinic in South Bend, saying the clinic would undermine efforts to reduce the number of abortions in the area.[54]
Walorski supported Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying she believed it would "allow our national security officials to examine the vetting process and strengthen safeguards to prevent terrorists from entering our homeland."[57]
In 1995, Walorski married Dean Swihart, a schoolteacher in Mishawaka.[17] She resided in Jamestown, an unincorporated suburban community west of Elkhart, and was a member of South Gate Church, an Assemblies of Godmegachurch in South Bend.[62]
It was initially reported that a northbound vehicle on State Road 19 veered left and collided head-on with Walorski's vehicle, which was southbound, but the police later retracted that statement, and said that Walorski's northbound car, driven by Zachery Potts, had crossed the center line for unknown reasons.[69][70] The investigation concluded the following month, with the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office finding that Potts was at fault for the crash, with evidence showing he was likely attempting to overtakeaflatbed truck.[71][72]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags around the U.S. Capitol Building to be flown at half-staff on the day of death and the day after in her honor.[73] Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose hometown of South Bend is in Walorski's district, posted condolences on Twitter, saying that "she was always prepared to work together where there was common ground".[74] Former President Donald Trump eulogized her on his Truth Social platform, and President Joe Biden issued a statement saying that she was "respected by members of both parties" and offering condolences to the victims' families.[73][75] On August 10, 2022, the Indiana congressional delegation introduced a bill to name the Department of Veteran Affairs Clinic in Mishawaka the Jackie Walorski VA Clinic.[64] The bill, H.R. 8656,[a] was signed into law September 30.[76]