Democratic congressman dead months after taking a key position

Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat of Virginia, died on Wednesday morning to 75 years.

“He died peacefully at home this morning surrounded by family,” said Connolly’s family in a statement.

In November, Connolly announced that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and would participate in chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In April, he announced that he would move away from his role as the main Democrat in the House Supervision Committee and would not apply for re -election because cancer, “although initially beaten, has now returned.”

“The sun is putting my time in the public service, and this will be my last term in Congress,” he said in a statement.

He supported former Cabinet Chief James Walkinshaw in the race to happen.

Connolly was chosen for the best democratic place in the House Supervision Committee in December, defeating the representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) in an internal election by a vote of 131-84.

Via News

The taxes were seen from colleagues from both sides of the hall.

Connolly “fulfilled all the challenges with tenacity and purpose, including his final battle with cancer, which faced with quiet courage, grace and dignity,” Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) Said.

Representative Jamie Raskin (MD.) Shared that it was “overwhelming to learn” about Connolly’s death, describing his partner Democrat as a “fierce champion of federal workers, public integrity and the people of Virginia (although he never delivered his abundant accent from southern Boston).”

The representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called the death of Connolly “a personal loss for me.”

“He was a good and decent man,” McCaul added. “He was always driving as a statesman in the best tradition in the halls of Congress and in the NATO parliamentary assembly.”

Walkinshaw, a Fairfax County Supervisor who worked with Connolly for years, said the congressman was “one of the most formative figures in my life.”

“Due to him, I am a better husband, father and public servant. I will carry his wisdom, and his fierce love for this community, with me for the rest of my life,” he said in a statement. “We have lost a giant.”

Connolly represented the 11th district of Virginia, in the Washington suburbs, since 2009. Before that, it served at the Fairfax County Supervisors Board for 14 years.

“We were lucky to share Gerry with northern Virginia for almost 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose and his passion,” said Connolly’s family on Wednesday.