New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a 14-term incumbent and a fixture in his hometown of Paterson for more than four decades, died Wednesday. He was 87.
Pascrell had been in and out of the hospital with an illness recently. He died Wednesday morning at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, according to his long-time chief of staff, Ben Rich.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that Bill Pascrell Jr., our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away this morning,” a statement posted on Pascrell’s X account said. “Bill fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and to the people he loved.”
Pascrell was slated to run for a 15th term in the fall.
President Joe Biden hailed Pascrell as “a devoted patriot, a gentleman, and an exemplary leader.”
“A beloved bridge-builder and champion for working-class people, Bill fought relentlessly to ensure their voices and needs were at the center of policymaking,” Biden said in a statement released late Wednesday. ”I always knew Bill’s positions were guided by his deep conscience and convictions.”
Pascrell was a longtime advocate for emergency responders. He spearheaded the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Act, which delivers grant dollars directly to fire departments across the country.
He was instrumental in getting the Great Falls recognized as a national historical park. The waterfall on the Passaic River in Paterson falls 77 feet and is an emblem of the city and its past as an industrial town. Pascrell used the waterfall on his office’s letterhead.
Known for his candor and willingness to use New Jersey’s reputation for sharp-elbowed politics, he served on the influential House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax-writing legislation. After Superstorm Sandy devastated the state’s shoreline in 2012, causing $65 billion in damage, and some lawmakers balked at approving aid, he took the House floor to chastise them.
“I don’t think that this is time for a pedantic debate. It’s time to take the gloves off — Jersey style,” Pascrell said. The House passed the legislation two days later.
A lifelong resident of Paterson, Pascrell served in the Army and Army Reserve after college and graduate school. He worked as a teacher in Paterson and served on the Board of Education there from 1979 to 1982 before going on to the state Legislature.
He was Paterson’s mayor from 1990 to 1996, when he ran for Congress.
A baseball fan and sometime player who coached the Democratic team in this year’s congressional baseball game, he said in an interview with Roll Call he had two tryouts with the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I was a catcher. I weighed 125 pounds in high school. I loved it. I used to eat a little dirt before every game to try to scare the other team. They’d say that guy is totally nuts,” he said.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy remembered Pascrell for “an unwavering instinct for drawing strength from our state’s diversity” and said he was a “champion for our most vulnerable neighbors.”
Pascrell is the second New Jersey representative to die in office this year.
Rep. Donald Payne Jr. died in April, and was succeeded on the ballot in a special primary held last month by Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver.
Unlike vacant Senate seats, which New Jersey also faces this year because of Sen. Bob Menendez’s resignation after bribery convictions, the governor doesn’t appoint House members.
It’s unclear yet whether there will be a special election to fill Pascrell’s unexpired term, which ends in January. Murphy has the authority to call an election, though it’s unclear what he’ll do. A message seeking comment was left with his office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.