Texas GOP Representative Ron Wright died on Monday with COVID-19 battle during the recent office campaign.
GOP Rep. Ron Wright died from COVID-19 while receiving cancer care
Wright, 67, last month tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized for the past two weeks in Dallas. His team reported in a statement that Wright "passed away peacefully" with his wife Susan at his side on Sunday.
"Ron continued his fast wit and optimism until the very end, as friends, family, and many of his constituents will know," the statement reads." "Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice, despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer."
According to Politico, Rep. Ron Wright's death comes less than two months after the House lost another member: Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R-La.), who died of coronavirus, too. Over the past year, hundreds of representatives have already tested positive for COVID-19, and in December, lawmakers began obtaining the vaccine.
In a statement, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, "For Ron, public service was more than a job, it was a calling," "The difference he was able to make over the past two decades will keep living on in every life he touched."
In 2019, after running for the Arlington-Fort Worth area seat vacated by Rep. Joe Barton, Wright first went to Congress. In 2020, with 53 % of the vote, he won. It is now likely that a special election will be held in 2021 to pick a new delegate for the suburban area, which has been more Democratic in recent years. In 2012, Mitt Romney won the district by 17 %. Trump won it in 2016 by 12 points and again in 2020 by just 3 points.
Sunday, almost two weeks after contracting COVID-19, Texas Republican Congressman Ron Wright died. According to a statement issued by his office, Wright, the first former member of Congress who died of the infection, had also been receiving cancer care for years.
He and his wife, Susan Wright, have been at Baylor Hospital in Dallas for the past two weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19. On January 21, after he had come into touch a week ago with someone who had the disorder, Wright issued a statement revealing he had tested positive, CBS News reported.
Earlier that week, Wright confirmed he and his team members had come into touch with someone who, after the House vote to impeach President Donald Trump, tested positive for the virus.
Who is GOP Rep. Ron Wright?
In 2018, Wright faced a crowded Republican primary with occupying the seat in the Sixth Congressional District, which came open after Republican Joe Barton announced he would not seek re-election in the wake of a national controversy. Previously, Wright served as the chief of staff and district director for Barton.
The US House District 6 included Fort Worth and extended south of Dallas, as per USA Today. Wright revealed, after his tenure in local politics, that he would run for Congress. His goals included border protection, repairing "our broken immigration system," and restructuring of taxes.
In a 2018 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Wright said that he should be chosen for the spot because he has the "willingness to say no to the Washington establishment."
In the Republican runoff, Ron Wright defeated Jake Ellzey and then overcame Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez in the general election by about 8%. He defeated Democrat Stephen Daniel comfortably to secure last year's re-election. His wife, Susan; his sons, Derek and Justin; his daughter, Rachel; his brother, Gary; and nine grandchildren survived Wright.
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