In 2010, she won the Republican nomination for Indiana's 2nd congressional district, but narrowly lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly.

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.

[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 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.

[4] Walorski moved to Romania in 2000 and founded Impact International, a foundation to provide medical supplies and attention to impoverished children.

[17] 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,[18] with 61% of the votes,[19] defeating Martin Dolan, Jack Jordan, and Tony Zirkle.

[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%.

[citation needed] Walorski defeated Mullen 49%–48%,[27] likely helped by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carrying her district with 56% of the vote.

[32][33] In 2019, Walorski was named the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support.

[37] 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.

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%.

[56] 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 December 2020, Walorski was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.

[58] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

[62] On August 3, 2022, four people, including Walorski, were killed in a head-on collision between two cars near Nappanee, Indiana.

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 overtake a flatbed truck.

[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".