Rep. Gerry Connolly, a fiery Virginia Democrat with decades of experience on Capitol Hill, passed away on Wednesday morning after a short battle with cancer, his family announced.
Connolly, 75, was a familiar figure around the halls of the Capitol, where he was known as a feisty advocate for the institutions of Washington — particularly following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — and a champion of the many federal workers hailing from his district Northern Virginia.
First elected in 2008, Connolly rose this year to become the senior Democrat on the power House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — a seat he had sought unsuccessfully twice before.
His ascension was not without controversy. Connolly announced shortly after November’s elections that he was being treated for esophageal cancer. And a challenge for the ranking member seat from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) had rekindled the long-running generational debate over the role of seniority within the House Democratic Caucus.
Still, Connolly was a popular figure within the caucus, and he prevailed easily.
On Tuesday, Connolly joined forces with Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Oversight Committee, to sponsor what would be his final piece of legislation: the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act.
