Goshen educator Paul Steury will be the Democratic candidate in a special election to fill the remainder of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski’s (R-Jimtown) term.
Steury was already the Democratic candidate for the general election this fall — he announced his run against the late congresswoman for Indiana’s 2nd District Congressional seat back in March.
Following Walorski’s death in a car crash earlier this month, a special election was called to fill the remainder of her term, which runs until January.
District Democrats chose Steury as their representative for that election in a caucus held Tuesday.
If elected to Congress, Steury said he would come home every weekend to meet with constituents.
“We need to be able to respect everyone and make sure that everyone feels that they are an integral part of our district,” he said. “If we can do that, they will be great citizens that will make us a fantastic country.”
Walorski narrowly beat Brendan Mullen for the 2nd District seat in 2012, and Republicans have soundly won the seat ever since. But Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said Democrats might perform better without “the power of incumbency.”
“This is really an open race now,” he said. “For the first time in a decade, the voters of north-central Indiana are going to select somebody new — brand new.”
District Republicans chose Rudy Yakym, a former Walorski campaign aide, as their candidate for both the special and general elections in a caucus held this past weekend.
Both elections will be held Nov. 8.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.
