Just weeks after winning re-election to Congress, Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) died Monday, Nov. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minnesota joined the federal government and other states in recognizing the Congressman\u2019s passing with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz\u2019 order that all US and State flags being flown at half-staff on November 29 on all public buildings and grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 61-year-old, who represented Virginia\u2019s 4th District, reportedly battled colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the U.S. Congress, McEachin had served nine years as a state senator and eight as a Virginia delegate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are all devastated at the passing of our boss and friend, Congressman Donald McEachin,\u201d McEachin\u2019s chief of staff, Tara Rountree, said in a statement late Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cValiantly, 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\u2019s Fourth Congressional District lost a hero who always, always fought for them and put them first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The son of a public-school teacher and military veteran, McEachin graduated from American University with a political science degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also matriculated from the University of Virginia Law School and received a Master of Divinity from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Virginia native dedicated most of his adult life fighting to protect the environment. He also championed affordable health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHearing the news of his death sent a shock of pain through me tonight,\u201d Virginia Democratic State Sen. L. Louise Lucas stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI remember watching him make history as the first ever African American nominee for state attorney general in 2001,\u201d Lucas stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a recent screening of \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,\u201d McEachin spoke openly about colorectal cancer, urging people to get checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t fool around. Don\u2019t go through my journey. Go to the doctor,\u201d McEachin urged the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McEachin was \u201ca gentle giant,\u201d U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was a compassionate champion for underdogs, a climate warrior, a Christian example, an understanding dad, a proud husband, a loyal brother,\u201d Kaine asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called McEachin \u201ca tireless champion for Virginia families and a force for economic opportunity and environmental justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[He was] a respected voice on the Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, he advocated to lower costs, expand broadband access and protect families from gun violence,\u201d Pelosi insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis many contributions to our Select Committee on the Climate Crisis helped lay the essential groundwork for our climate action over the last two years, especially the important progress toward environmental justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden issued the following statement on the passing of the congressman: \u201cJill and I are saddened by the death of Congressman Don McEachin of Virginia, following a battle with cancer. We send our deepest condolences to Don\u2019s wife, Colette, and their three children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got to know Don after he was elected to Congress in 2016. I will always be grateful for his friendship, and his early and fierce support when I ran for President. Don was a fighter. He fought for justice, for civil rights, and for communities that are often left behind. Thanks to Don\u2019s leadership and tireless advocacy, we passed historic legislation to combat the climate crisis and advance environmental justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just weeks after winning re-election to Congress, Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) died Monday, Nov. 28. Minnesota joined the federal government and other states in recognizing the Congressman\u2019s passing with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz\u2019 order that all US and State flags being flown at half-staff on November 29 on all public buildings and grounds. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1484,1485,169],"class_list":["post-2406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-rep-a-donald-mceachin","tag-tara-rountree","tag-tim-walz","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2407,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions\/2407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}