A Democratic member of Congress just received the worst possible news imaginable, and while it is entirely unrelated to politics it nevertheless could have a huge impact on that member’s future political career.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) revealed the tragic news on Monday that his teenage daughter had just passed away, the Daily Caller reported.
Daughter found unresponsive, declared dead
The sad announcement was made Monday evening, likely by a staffer, and was posted to the Illinois congressman’s official Twitter account.
“This morning, Congressman Casten’s beloved daughter, Gwen (17), passed away. The Casten family requests privacy, and we will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time,” the message read.
According to Fox News, local police in the congressman’s hometown of Downers Grove, Illinois, responded to an early morning emergency call about an unresponsive young female at the Casten residence, and it was quickly determined that Casten’s 17-year-old daughter was dead.
The DuPage County Coroner has reportedly opened an investigation into the cause of death of the teenage girl.
Ad campaigns were temporarily suspended in the Democratic primary race
CBS News reported that Casten is currently running for a third term as the representative of Illinois’ 6th Congressional District but, just before his daughter’s death being announced, his campaign called for all TV stations in the state to immediately pull his planned campaign ads for the immediate future.
His main opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary, incumbent freshman Rep. Marie Newman expressed her condolences and also announced a temporary halt to her own campaign ads out of respect for her opponent’s grievous loss.
Newman tweeted, “My heart breaks for the Casten family for the devastating loss of their daughter. My prayers are with Sean, Kara, and the entire Casten family.”
She currently represents Illinois’ 3rd District, but newly drawn redistricting maps combined parts of the 3rd and 4th Districts — currently represented by Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) — and Newman opted to challenge Casten instead of Garcia in her bid to remain in Congress
Prayer for comfort and solace
The untimely death of a child is quite possibly the worst news any parent could ever receive, and everybody should offer up a prayer of condolences for the terrible loss suffered by Casten.
Hopefully, the congressman and his family will eventually find peace and solace as they mourn the death of Gwen.
