David Kolbe

WARSAW — A local attorney, former prosecutor and Kosciusko County Democratic Chair David Kolbe has announced he is retiring from partisan politics.

The announcement came through a Facebook post made a few weeks ago. In his post Kolbe said, “In March my term ends as Kosciusko County Democratic Party Chair and I will be passing the seat onto my successor.”

Kolbe went on to say, “It has been a blessing and fulfillment of my calling to have been so engaged and thanks to all the people I have come to know.”

He explains he is not totally done with political realm. In his statement Kolbe said, ” When asked once why he did not attend church, Winston Churchill said he was the pillar of the church–he supported it from the outside. I hope that will be me in politics in the future.”

Kolbe has held the position of the Kosciusko Democratic Chair for the last several years. During his political career, Kolbe ran for the Kosciusko County Council in 2008 and State Representative in 2014. Kolbe lost both of those races. In 1994, he ran as a Republican and won a four-year term as prosecutor.

Kolbe states he was a Republican until around 2003 when he said, “The party left me.”

The decision to end his political career comes in part due to an election that left the country with President-elect Donald Trump. Kolbe indicated frustration with Trump’s rhetoric.

Kolbe also mentioned he wants to focus more on foreign relations where he says his passion truly lies. Since 2006, Kolbe has been working with the Center for International Legal Education. With the organization, Kolbe goes to other countries, typically those that have been dominated by authoritarian or totalitarian governments and teaches American Criminal Law. Kolbe has taught in Ukraine, Latvia, Hungary and Poland. This spring Kolbe is headed to Czech Republic to teach at Masaryk University.