Texas Rep. Ron Wright becomes first sitting member of Congress to die of COVID-19

• Rep. Ron Wright has died from complications with COVID-19, his office said on Monday.
• Wright, 67, had cancer and is the first sitting member of Congress to die of the disease.
• The Texas lawmaker was hospitalized with coronavirus two weeks ago along with his wife, Susan.

Rep. Ron Wright, a Texas Republican, died from complications with COVID-19 on Sunday, according to his office.

The two-term lawmaker contracted coronavirus and was hospitalized in Dallas over the past two weeks, along with his wife, Susan, who also tested positive for the disease.

"Congressman Wright will be remembered as a constitutional conservative. He was a statesman, not an ideologue," said a statement from his office on Monday.

Wright was 67 years old and had cancer, for which he had been receiving treatment over the past few years.

"Despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer, Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice," the statement read. Wright is survived by his wife, as well as his son, daughter, nine grandchildren and extended family.

Wright is the first sitting member of Congress to die of the illness. GOP Rep.-elect Luke Letlow died of COVID-19 mere days before he was set to be sworn into office on January 3 to represent Louisiana's Fifth Congressional District. He was 41.

"Heartbroken to lose my friend and colleague," top Republican Rep. Steve Scalise tweeted Monday of Wright's death. "Ron was a true fighter for freedom and healthcare innovation."

Wright represented Texas' Sixth Congressional District, which includes parts of Fort Worth, since 2019 after former Rep. Joe Barton retired. Wright won his reelection campaign in 2020 with roughly 52% of the vote. He previously served on the Arlington City Council from 2000 to 2008, and then worked as a tax assessor-collector of Tarrant County from 2011 to 2018.

The coronavirus has made its way around Capitol Hill since the start of the pandemic last year. Around 71 lawmakers have tested positive, according to GovTrack. After the Capitol riot on January 6 when lawmakers were forced to shelter-in-place, at least four members of Congress contracted the virus.

In early October, at least a dozen public officials - including former President Donald Trump - became infected with the virus following Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's nomination ceremony. The event, hosted in the White House Rose Garden, featured roughly 150 people, who sat close to each other without masks and even hugged and shook hands. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah were among those who tested positive for coronavirus in what was described by Dr. Anthony Fauci as a super-spreader event.

Since late December, when two COVID-19 vaccines became approved and available in the US, several lawmakers have received the shots, which are administered in two separate doses. Health experts have said that it takes a few weeks for immunity to be fully developed after getting the vaccine, and that it's possible to contract the virus in between the shots.