Virginia Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin passed away Monday night at the age of 61, following a decade-long fight with colorectal cancer.
According to The Hill, McEachin’s chief of staff Tara Roundtree said in a statement posted on the representative’s Twitter account that the congressman had been experiencing “secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013.”
“We are all devastated at the passing of our boss and friend, Congressman Donald McEachin,” Rountree said. “Valiantly, for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013.”
“Tonight, he lost that battle, and the people of Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District lost a hero who always fought for them and put them first.”
Roundtree added that McEachin’s office will continue serving its constituents until a new individual is elected to the district. McEachin, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany on October 10, 1961, was first elected to the House in 2016 and won reelection in 2018, 2020 and this month’s midterm elections, when he received 64% of the vote in his congressional district.
While in Congress, McEachin fought against environmental inequalities in low-income communities and communities of color, sitting on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
Additionally, McEachin, an American University and Virginia School of Law alum, was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
and the New Democrat Coalition.McEachin received and outpouring of praise for his career in Congress and commitment to his constituents.
“It is with great sadness that I join Virginians tonight in mourning the loss of Congressman Donald McEachin: a tireless champion for Virginia families and a force for economic opportunity and environmental justice,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote in a statement Monday night.
“Up until the very end, Don McEachin was a fighter,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote on Twitter. “Even though he battled cancer and faced other trials in recent years, he never lost his focus on social and environmental justice.”
“Tonight, Virginia has lost a great leader and I have lost a great friend.”
Before coming to Congress, McEachin served in both the Virginia State Senate and the House of Delegates.