US Congressman Rudy Yakym shows support for St. Joseph County Sheriff candidate Rod Laureys

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — US Congressman Rudy Yakym made a stop home Monday evening to show support towards a candidate running for Saint Joseph County Sheriff.

The Congressman hosted a fundraising event at Brasserie 23 in Granger for Rod Laureys, the Republican candidate on the ballot for St. Joseph County Sheriff. He is running against South Bend Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski, who filed as a Democrat, to replace current Sheriff Bill Redman.

Laureys spoke at the event about what changes he would implement as sheriff like improving county jail staffing, activating a drug task force unit, and clarifying the pursuit policy for county cops.

He told ABC57 how special it is to have the support of a US representative on his campaign.

"I've known him for many years, and I never intended on running for Sheriff, that was never my thing, and it just happened that way, and he came out to help," says Rod Laureys, candidate for St. Joseph County Sheriff. "It's humbling actually, not being a politician, never wanting to be, to have people come out and support me like this, it's humbling."

"Rod has been a good friend for a long time; he and I were working together on Jackie Walorski's campaign in 2012," explains Congressman Rudy Yakym. "Local leadership really matters. Our system of government is not one that is top down, it is bottom up. The most impactful leadership is actually done by our local elected officials, and that's why, as much as possible, I try to take the time to visit all eleven counties every month and really support our local elected officials and partner with them between a lot of the federal issues and local issues."