Jacqueline Renae Walorski (, August 17, 1963 – August 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2013 until her death in 2022. She was a member of the Republican Party. Walorski served in the Indiana House of Representatives, representing Indiana's 21st district, from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, she won the Republican nomination for Indiana's 2nd congressional district, but narrowly lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly. Walorski won the seat in 2012 after Donnelly vacated it to run for the U.S. Senate, and was reelected four times.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, on August 17, 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 had 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 to 1983, and graduated from Taylor University, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree 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 to 1991. In 1991, she was appointed the director of institutional advancement at Ancilla College, a position she held until she was appointed 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 to 1999.
Walorski moved to Romania in 2000 and founded Impact International, a foundation to provide medical supplies and attention to impoverished children. She did Christian missionary work in Romania before returning to the U.S. in 2004.
Indiana House of Representatives
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%. In 2006, she won a second term with 53% of the vote. In 2008, she won a third term unopposed.
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. 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.
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. 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, making it a Class C felony and imposing a $50,000 fine on anyone who has the identities of over 100 persons. "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.
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.
In 2009, Walorski announced her candidacy to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Joe Donnelly in Indiana's 2nd congressional district, and she won the 2010 Republican primary, with 61% of the votes, defeating Martin Dolan, Jack Jordan, and Tony Zirkle. She lost 48%–47% in the general election.
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. 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%. In contrast, he won the old 2nd with 54% of the vote.
Donnelly decided not to seek reelection, opting instead to run for the U.S. Senate. Walorski won the 2012 primary election with 73% of the vote, winning all ten counties in the 2nd District. In the general election, she faced Libertarian nominee Joe Ruiz of Mishawaka and Democratic nominee Brendan Mullen of Granger, an Iraq War veteran. Walorski defeated Mullen 49%–48%, likely helped by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carrying her district with 56% of the vote. At the same time, Donnelly was elected to the Senate.
In 2014, while serving on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Walorski was a leading voice pushing for the resignation of Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs due to the Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014.
Walorski voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump and voted to object to the certification of the 2020 United States presidential election.
In 2019, Walorski was named the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support. In 2020, she was appointed to serve on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. In 2021, she became the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee.
Walorski won the uncontested 2022 Republican primary for the 2nd district.
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.