Longstanding US Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia says he is battling esophageal cancer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat representing Virginia's most populous county in Congress, said Thursday that he is battling esophageal cancer.

The announcement comes after Connolly, 74, handily won his ninth House term on Tuesday by defeating Republican Mike Van Meter, a Navy veteran and former FBI agent, in Virginia's 11th District.

“I will attack this the only way I know how – with Irish fight and humor,” Connolly said in a statement.

As he enters his new term representing Fairfax County and the wealthy suburbs outside Washington, the congressman will be undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy, he said. In his statement, Connolly said he had no symptoms besides occasional abdominal aches.

“My wonderful staff and I look forward to serving you all in this new term and in the future,” he said.

The congressman has been a fixture in northern Virginia politics for roughly 30 years after he was first elected as a Fairfax County supervisor in 1995. In Congress, he has played a leading role in oversight investigations.

His tenure as a congressman has not been without hardship. Last year, a man with a history of mental illness went to Connolly's Fairfax, Virginia, district office looking to kill him with a baseball bat. Connolly wasn’t there, so the man, who a judge had since found not guilty by reason of insanity, attacked two staffers.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.