BREAKING: Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill expected to run for Jackie Walorski's congressional seat
Curtis Hill, Indiana’s former attorney general and the state’s most prominent black conservative, is expected to announce his candidacy this week to fill the South Bend, Indiana, congressional seat left vacant after the tragic death of Rep. Jackie Walorski.
Hill was born and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the Elkhart County prosecutor for 14 years, starting in 2002 when he was first elected with 78% of the vote.
He was re-elected three times — in 2006, 2010 and 2014 — before running and winning the race for state attorney general in 2016.
Hill served as Indiana’s attorney general for one four-year term, until 2020 when he was defeated by Todd Rokita at the GOP convention, held virtually that year because of Covid-19.
His loss at the convention came two years after accusations that he had inappropriately touched female Statehouse staffers and a Democratic legislator named Mara Candelaria Reardon.
Hill had vehemently denied the accusations and many Republicans in the state, including some who’ve known him for years and have worked with him — men and women alike — say they think he was set up.
“I think it was a political hit job,” says David Kesvormas, the chairman of the Starke County Republican Party.
Two longtime Republican women who know Hill well say they believe that any inappropriate touching was most likely inadvertent or accidental.
One of them, Republican campaign consultant Suzy Barnhart, says what Hill went through during this time — with Gov. Eric Holcomb, a fellow Republican, calling for his resignation — has made him stronger.
“Because of what they did to Curtis, he’s well prepared,” she said. “Curtis has been to hell and back with untruthfulness, lies,…” she added, calling him “battle-ready.”
Kesvormas said on Saturday that if and when Hill announces and asks for his support, he’ll get behind him and will ask Starke County precinct committeemen to vote for him at the caucuses to be held in Mishawaka on Saturday, Aug. 20. He said two other county chairmen he talked to this weekend also said they’d get behind Hill and will also urge their precinct committeemen to back him.
“Curtis has always been a friend to my party and a friend to us. The more I get to know him, he’s a just a phenomenal guy,” says Kesvormas.
The 2nd Congressional District seat was vacated by the sudden and tragic death of Rep. Jackie Walorski, who was killed in a car crash on Aug. 3 along with two of her staffers — 27-year-old Zachery Potts, who was Walorski’s district director and also the chairman of the St. Joseph County Republican Party, and 28-year-old Emma Thomson, of Washington, D.C.
The driver of the other car, Edith Schmucker, age 56, of Nappanee, was also killed.
Potts was driving the vehicle that crossed the center line, hitting Schmucker’s vehicle head-on.
The funeral for Walorski was held in Granger on Thursday and attended by many members of Congress, including Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The funeral for Potts was on Saturday.
Only one person has officially filed to run for the seat: current state Rep. Curt Nisly of Kosciusko County who lost in the primary in May after he was drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Rep. Craig Snow.
Two people said this weekend that they were put off by the timing of Nisly’s announcement, which came on the eve of the funeral for Walorski.
On Aug. 20 there will actually be two caucuses: one made up of precinct committeemen for the “old” 2nd Congressional District, who will pick the Republican nominee to run in the special election (to be held on Nov. 8, concurrent with the regular election) to complete Walorski’s current term. The other caucus will be made of up precinct committeemen for the “new” 2nd Congressional District, who will pick the Republican nominee to run in the November general election to serve for the next two years, beginning in January of 2023 and lasting until January of 2025.
Given that the district is solidly Republican, it is almost assured that the person chosen next Saturday in Mishawaka by Republican precinct committeemen will become the next member of Congress representing the 2nd district.
The largest city in the district is South Bend, which is the fourth largest city in the state and the home of Notre Dame. Other cities of note include Elkhart, Mishawaka, Goshen, Granger, Warsaw, Wabash, Plymouth and Rochester.
Curtis Hill and his wife Teresa have five children: two boys and three girls:
Since losing his bid for a second term as Indiana attorney general, Hill has remained active in the state, attending Lincoln Day dinners and speaking at various events. He’s also written op-eds for The Federalist, such as this one defending Voter ID laws, rebuffing any claim that they disadvantage black voters.
“Every black person I know has an ID,” wrote Hill.
In the summer of 2020, Hill issued an advisory opinion finding that Gov. Eric Holcomb lacked the authority under the law to impose a statewide mask mandate, and urged him instead to call a special session of the Indiana General Assembly and allow legislators to to consider whether they wanted to pass a law requiring masks.
That opinion can be read in full here: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/INAG/2020/07/22/file_attachments/1501676/Official%20Opinion%202020-6.pdf
