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Bill Pascrell Jr., 14-Term House Democrat From N.J., Dies at 87
An outspoken progressive, he vigorously opposed President Donald J. Trump and focused on legislation to help “regular Americans pay their bills.”
Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., a blunt progressive Democrat from northern New Jersey who was poised to become the oldest member of the House of Representatives, died on Wednesday in Livingston, N.J. He was 87.
His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his deputy chief of staff, Mark Greenbaum.
Mr. Pascrell, who was serving his 14th term in Congress, checked himself into a hospital on July 14 with a fever. Ten days later, his staff said he had suffered a setback while being treated for a respiratory infection and was receiving “breathing assistance,” according to The Record of Bergen County, N.J. He had recently discharged himself from the hospital but then found he had to return, Mr. Greenbaum said.
Mr. Pascrell was heavily favored to win re-election. Had that happened — and had he lived to be sworn in in January, just before his 88th birthday — he would have become the oldest member of the House. Representative Grace F. Napolitano, a California Democrat, will turn 88 in December, but she did not seek re-election.
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Democrats have until Aug. 29 to put a new name on the November ballot, Mr. Greenbaum said. The selection will be made by party officials from Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties. Until the next Congress is elected, Mr. Pascrell’s seat will remain vacant.
