Rudy Yakym III receives endorsement from Rep. Jackie Walorski’s husband

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - There’s another ‘Rudy’ with ties to Notre Dame who is looking to make a name for himself.

This time, it’s not on the football field, but in the field of politics.

Rudy Yakym III is one of 14-candidates vying to take over where the late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski left off, but Yakym is the only candidate to be endorsed by Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart.

“So, everything for us starts with prayer, and we knelt down by our couch as a family and, you know, asked the lord for guidance, and we had some friends that provided some input as well, but really for us what kind of sealed the decision was the endorsement from Jackie’s husband Dean,”Yakym told 16 News Now. “And without that endorsement, we may not have done this. But with Dean’s endorsement and blessing, we’re honored to be seeking to represent this district.”

Yakym is a 38-year-old married father of three who is the head usher at his church.

He is running for elected office for the first time, although he says he is a frequent activist for conservative causes.

“I was Jackie’s finance director, helped her run for congress on her race in 2012,” Yakym said. “Quit my job to help her get elected. Jackie and I worked very closely together over the past ten years, her close working relationships, she was a dear friend.”

While a tragic turn of events has Yakym running for office, he says it feels more like a sprint.

“This is not a typical campaign. I think it’s one of the shortest that our nation has ever experienced. To have a campaign that we launched on Monday morning that runs through Saturday. It’s a five-day dead sprint,” Yakym explained.

On Saturday, some 530 precinct committeemen from the second congressional district will meet to whittle the list of 14-candidates, presumably down to one.

That candidate will replace Jackie Walorski on the November ballot.

“Our strategy has been simply to out-work everyone. We’re working, personally I’m working 19 hours a day on this. I can go five hours sleep, five hours of sleep per night for a week, so we’re doing that,” Yakym said.

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