Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, a Democrat known for his advocacy on behalf of the federal workforce, died Wednesday, just weeks after announcing that his esophageal cancer had returned. He was 75.
“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,” his family said in a statement.
Connolly had already announced last month that he would not seek reelection in Virginia’s 11th District, citing his cancer’s return. He also said he anticipated stepping aside from his duties as the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
News of the death of Connolly – a longtime fixture in Northern Virginia politics – brought bipartisan tributes for the late congressman.
“Gerry was a fighter. His sharp mind, boundless energy, and deep commitment to the people of Northern Virginia made him a force to be reckoned with, whether on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors or in Congress,” Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior senator, said in a statement.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats and the country had “lost a hardworking, humble and honorable public servant.” Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Virginia governor this year, remembered her onetime colleague as “a man who enlivened our politics, brought boundless energy to political debates, worked tirelessly to make the lives of his constituents better, and brought laughter to those around him.”
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, a former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee on which Connolly was a senior member, described the Virginia Democrat’s death as “a personal loss.”
“He was a good and decent man,” the Texas lawmaker said. “He always conducted himself as a statesman in the finest tradition in the Halls of Congress and in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As a friend, I will greatly miss him along with that Irish twinkle in his eyes.”
Advocate for federal workers
Connolly was first elected to the House in 2008, succeeding Republican Thomas M. Davis III in what was then a swing district. With the exception of a close 2010 race during the tea party wave, he had since been comfortably reelected as the D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia underwent a blue shift.
He previously served more than a decade on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, including five years as chairman.
In Congress, Connolly was a member of the center-left New Democrat Coalition and developed a reputation as a steward of the interests of the tens of thousands of government workers who populate his Northern Virginia district. He was a longtime critic of efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, including the Trump administration’s actions to sharply reduce the number of government employees.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s mindless approach to slashing the federal workforce and gutting vital programs and protections will render Trump’s government incapable of delivering for the people it is supposed to serve. The victims here are the American people,” he said in a February statement.
Before running for office, Connolly spent about a decade as a staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As a congressman, he joined its House counterpart, where he championed free trade and human rights.
Connolly criticized the Saudi government under de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in particular after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a constituent. Connolly authored an amendment to limit Saudi military aid that made it to the House-passed version of the fiscal 2022 defense authorization measure, but it was later stripped out of the version that went to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Connolly also served as president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which is made up of lawmakers from member nations of the Western military bloc.
Connolly grew up in Boston; his mother was a nurse, and his father worked in life insurance. His father brought 8-year-old Connolly along to set up placards for John F. Kennedy’s Senate reelection campaign in Boston.
In the mid-1960s, he was a student at Maryknoll Fathers Junior Seminary in Pennsylvania. But doubts about a life of celibacy, as well as disillusionment over the Catholic Church’s silence on the Vietnam War, led him away from the priesthood. After graduating from Maryknoll College with a degree in literature in 1971, he worked for nonprofit organizations, including the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation. That’s where he met his wife, Catherine Smith, a former nun who survives him along with their daughter, Caitlin.
“There is a pastoral element to what you do in politics,” Connolly said early in his House tenure. “I was infused with strong progressive Catholic values with respect to social justice and service to the community, and those are very strong values for me as a member of Congress.”
Connolly initially disclosed his esophageal cancer diagnosis two days after the 2024 election and pledged transparency regarding his treatment and prognosis.
“The sun is setting on my time in public service,’’ Connolly said in a late April message to his constituents announcing that he would not seek a 10th term. “With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we’ve accomplished together over 30 years.”
Special election
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to call a special election to serve Connolly’s remaining term in Virginia’s 11th District, a safely blue suburban seat centered on the city of Fairfax outside Washington.
Connolly had already endorsed a successor as the Democratic primary for the regular 2026 election started taking shape: Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw, who previously served as Connolly’s chief of staff.
Walkinshaw remembered his former boss Wednesday as “a singular figure and force for good in our community” and “a mentor, a friend, and one of the most formative figures in my life.”
Virginia state Sen. Stella Pekarsky and Candice Bennett, a member of the Fairfax County Planning Commission, have also declared bids for the 2026 Democratic nomination.
House Democrats will also need to choose a successor to Connolly as ranking member on the House Oversight panel. Connolly won the post defeating New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a December caucus vote that spotlighted generational tensions within the party. Massachusetts Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, who has served in an acting capacity as the top Democrat on the committee since April, has said he would seek to succeed Connolly, though other Democrats have expressed interest as well.
With Connolly’s death, there are now three vacancies in the House. Special elections will be held later this year to fill the seats left open by the deaths of Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona.
Andrew Menezes contributed to this report.
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