Former U.S. Congressman Paul Mitchell, who held Michigan’s 10th District seat in the U.S. House, died following a battle with cancer.
He had previously said he was diagnosed with stage IV renal cancer.
Mitchell, who was 64 at the time of his passing, served two terms in Congress before declining to run in 2020 and left the Republican party shortly after.
In a statement first issued to CNN, Mitchell’s wife Sherry said “Paul was an American. he was the embodiment of what we can be if we choose to love and fight for what matters.”
“Paul loved with reckless abandon and would fiercely protect others whether they were family or strangers. You were worthy and loved and part of his flock,” she said.
“I am immensely proud of him and never more so than when he was the lone voice in a sea of politicians who cared more about power than the true definition of the office. When he remained the lone voice and ignored the threats from those claiming to be his friends,” Mitchell’s spouse, Sherry, wrote in a statement.
Last December, Mitchell announced that he was leaving the party because he did not agree with 45th President Donald Trump challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Read the full statement:
In a statement to FOX 2, Rep. Lisa McClain who now sits in Mitchell’s former seat, “Today we mourn the passing of former Rep. Paul Mitchell, who was an advocate for improving Michigan’s 10th Congressional District during his time in office. My thoughts and prayers are with Paul’s wife Sherry and the entire Mitchell family.”
Mitchell is the second Republican lawmaker to pass away recently.
Retired Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi died at age 77 after a tragic bicycling accident.
Enzi — who retired from the U.S. Senate back in January after serving 24 years in the U.S. Senate — died surrounded by family and friends, former spokesman Max D’Onofrio said.
This is an excerpt from Fox 5 Atlanta.
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