Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) died at age 75 after a battle with esophageal cancer, his family said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
“It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and loving father, husband, brother, friend, and public servant, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” they said in the statement, which was posted on the Virginia Democrat’s X account.
The family said Connolly had “lived his life to give back to others and make our community better.”
“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.
“He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many.”
Connolly announced in April that his esophageal cancer had returned despite a number of treatments for the illness, and that he would retire after this term in office ends. He first disclosed the cancer diagnosis in November 2024.
When announcing the development, Connolly also said he would soon step down as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
“When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency,” he wrote at the time. “After grueling treatments, we’ve learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned.”
Connolly was first elected to represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which borders Washington, in 2008. Before that, he served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was its chairman at one point.
Connolly got his first taste of Congress while working as a staffer for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 1980s. Decades later, Connolly became a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Aside from the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees, he also served on subcommittees on government innovation and information technology.
The lawmaker cosponsored the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, which requires federal agencies to allow a portion of their employees to telework at least one day a week. In 2014, he cosponsored another bill that reformed federal IT management and has since saved the government billions of dollars, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Connolly reached a new milestone late last year as he was chosen to be the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, defeating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for the position. The victory came shortly after Connolly announced the cancer diagnosis.
As ranking member on the committee, Connolly called on inspectors general to investigate the Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration-established task force headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
He and other Democrats also introduced a pair of resolutions demanding that the Trump administration turn over documents and information about Musk’s activity in the government and the firings of federal workers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
