April 03, 2020 / By mobanmarket
BALTIMORE, MD — U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most powerful voices in Congress and a forceful opponent of President Donald Trump, died early Thursday in Baltimore, according to his spokeswoman, Trudy Perkins. He was 68.
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His death resulted from “complications concerning longstanding health challenges,” the spokeswoman said in a statement that did not elaborate on the cause.
Cummings died at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate in Baltimore, The Washington Post reported.
The Democrat was chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, was involved in the Russia investigation and was a key figure in the impeachment inquiry into Trump. Cummings represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County.
With his low, booming voice and a preacher’s speech cadence, he represented a section of Baltimore with severe drug issues and gun violence, among other social problems. He campaigned tirelessly for stricter gun control laws and help for those with addiction problems.
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He was “the quintessential speaking-truth-to-power representative,” Herbert C. Smith, a political science professor at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, told the Post. “Cummings has never shied from a very forceful give-and-take.”
Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, praised Cummings as a fierce advocate for civil rights and for Maryland for more than three decades.
“Congressman Cummings leaves behind an incredible legacy of fighting for Baltimore City and working to improve people’s lives,” Hogan said in a statement. “He was a passionate and dedicated public servant whose countless contributions made our state and our country better. Maryland’s First Lady and I ask Marylanders to join us in praying for his loved ones, his constituents, and his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
In July, the president called Cummings’ district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live,” after Cummings criticized conditions at immigration centers.
As he had for more than two decades, Cummings stridently defended his hometown.
He underwent heart surgery in May 2017 at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Patch previously reported.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said of Cummings: “At a time of chaos and division, our friend Elijah Cummings stood strong as a man of principle, unity, dignity, and compassion. His insatiable thirst for justice was rooted in his core. Maryland has lost a beloved son and our nation a hero of our times.”
Patch readers thanked Cummings for his service to the state and country.
“He is welcomed home with all Honor for his service to fellow man and fearless defense of truth and equality….. Rest Well Deserved,” wrote reader Ras David Michael Funk.
Added Columbia reader Wilda B. Newman, “Our son, our leader. A very sad day and a huge loss to our community and for our country.”
Cummings was born in 1951 as the son of a sharecropper, according to the Associated Press, which said he was told in grade school he was slow and a poor speaker. This made him more determined to succeed, and he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University in Washington, a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and 13 honorary doctoral degrees from institutions of higher learning throughout the nation, his biography states.
Cummings served in Congress since winning a special election in 1996 to fill the seat vacated by Kweisi Mfume, who resigned to become president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Baltimore portion of Cummings’s congressional district was the epicenter of the 2015 riots ignited by the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody.
When looting began, Cummings helped restore order in a West Baltimore neighborhood, assuring residents that authorities were taking the case seriously.
He was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president and was co-chairman of Obama’s campaign in Maryland in 2008.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Howard, where he was student government president. He was a practicing attorney while after graduating from the University of Baltimore and served for 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates. He was the first African-American in the state’s history to be named speaker pro-tem.
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