The family of Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen announced on Saturday that he had died at the age of 52.
Our husband and father passed away on the 17th of December. Please keep our family in your prayers and thank you for respecting our privacy in this difficult time, said the statement issued by the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus.
The cause of death was not specified in the statement.
The Republican was elected to the Washington state Senate. He was a member of the state's House.
In November, he told KIRO that he was unable to leave El Salvador after testing positive for COVID-19 and asked his GOP colleagues to send him treatments.
On November 19th, former state Rep. Luanne Van Werven said that a medevac flight had been arranged to bring Ericksen to Florida, but no updates on his condition or whereabouts were given afterwards.
John Braun, the leader of the state Senate, said in a statement that he was "deeply sad" by the news of Ericksen's death.
My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and daughters. Our caucus will miss Doug a lot. Braun said that he was passionate about his duties as a member of the Legislature.
He was an advocate against vaccine mandates. It was not clear if he was up to date on his immunizations.
"Trudi and I send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Sen. Doug Ericksen," the statement said. Our hearts are with them.
