Washington – Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif., died early Sunday of cancer, an aide said.
Millender-McDonald, who was 68, died at her home in Carson, Calif., said her chief of staff, Bandele McQueen. McQueen could provide no details on what form of cancer Millender-McDonald had. He said she had been receiving hospice care.
The congresswoman had asked for a four- to six-week leave of absence from the House last week to deal with her illness. She was in her seventh term representing a heavily Democratic Southern California district that includes Compton, Long Beach and parts of Los Angeles.
“California and the nation have lost a great friend and public servant,” said California Democratic Party chairman Art Torres, who served with Millender-McDonald in the California legislature. “She was a champion for the consumer and fought injustice wherever she saw it. She always valued public service and served her state and nation with grace and honor.”
Millender-McDonald is the second member of Congress to die this year of cancer. Republican Rep. Charles Norwood Jr. of Georgia died in February after battling cancer and lung disease.
This year, Millender-McDonald became chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees House operations and federal election procedures.
The native of Birmingham, Ala., worked on former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s unsuccessful 1982 gubernatorial campaign and other local races before getting elected to the Carson City Council in 1990.
She went on to serve in the California Assembly and, in 1996, sought a U.S. House seat in a special election to replace Rep. Walter Tucker III, who had been convicted of taking bribes while mayor of Compton and of cheating on his taxes.
She won the special election and, in March, beat out Tucker’s wife, Robin, in a primary that featured nine Democrats. She won a full House term in November 1996 and subsequently had won re-election easily.
Under California election procedures, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has 14 days to set a date for a special election to fill the seat.
