After tragic death, Rep. Jackie Walorski's Congress seat is vacant. How will it be filled?

The death of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski in a car crash yesterday leaves a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and leaves voters in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes South Bend and Elkhart, without representation in the U.S. House.

Indiana law and the U.S. Constitution dictates what should happen in this case: a special election must be called by the state's governor to fill the vacancy.

The Governor's Office told IndyStar in an email that the process has not yet started, so no date has been set for the special election. The seat in the heavily Republican district also is up for election Nov. 8.

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Replacing a politician of Walorski's stature and experience, especially this close to the November Midterm election, will be very difficult for the Republican Party, said Michael Wolf, the chair of the Purdue University Fort Wayne political science department.

"These are probably people who have worked together who would like to run for the seat. This makes it very confusing for up-and-coming and established party figures. Who do you choose? Somebody to be a placeholder or an established figure who would have name recognition? Or is it going to a be a young, up-and-coming figure in the party...?"

Indiana Republican Party spokesperson Luke Thomas told IndyStar in an email, "At this time, the Indiana Republican Party is mourning the loss of friends and colleagues; our sole focus is on those lost and their families.

"Over the course of the coming days, we will work with the Governor's Office and the Indiana Election Division to confirm the proper steps moving forward and will provide an update at a later date."

Given the upcoming November midterm election, with early voting beginning as soon as October, it is possible that the governor will decide to have the special election at the same time as the midterm.

"That means as a voter, you would vote twice for a member of the House of Representatives," Andy Downs told IndyStar. He is the former director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a foremost expert on Indiana politics.

Both he and Wolf predict that the special election will be held at the same time as the November midterm.

"More than likely, when you figure out all steps to figuring out a special election, it would be held on the same day (as the November election)," Downs said. "No. 1, the programming of machines so they can be used (comes into play). Second, the timing of when ballots are available comes into play. And a bunch of logistical issues come into play that just make it far easier for both elections to be held the same day."

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This is what happened in 2010, when voters in Indiana's 3rd Congressional District, which includes Fort Wayne, were left without a representative when Rep. Mark Souder resigned after admitting to an affair with a female staffer.

Then-Gov. Mitch Daniels called for a special election to be held the same time as the November midterm election, Wolf said, citing the infrastructure and cost of holding an election, as well as ensuring the attentiveness of voters.

If this were to happen, there would be two questions on the ballot for the 2nd Congressional District: who should fill the unexpired term, and who should serve the district for the next term, Downs said.

It would be overwhelmingly likely that the same candidate would win both elections, in that case, Downs said, because voters would vote the same way on the same ballot.

But in the unlikely event two different candidates win the special election and the midterm election, the winner of the special election would serve until the end of Rep. Walorski's unexpired term, which would be Jan 3, 2023, and the winner of the midterm election would serve from the start of the next term, also Jan 3, 2023.

Wolf said the Democrat nominee for the special election is likely to be Paul Steury, who is the nominee for the November midterm election.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Jackie Walorski: How will vacant Congress seat be filled?