As family, colleagues in Congress, and a wide circle of friends from the 11th District in Northern Virginia mourned the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, questions began about what will happen now to the seat of the eight-term House Democrat.

Connolly, who died Wednesday morning at age 75, is the third sitting House member to have died in office this year. Like Connolly, Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Sylvester Turner of Texas — both of whom died in March — were Democrats.

(As many Capitol Hill pundits noted, had any two of the three recently deceased lawmakers lived, President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on taxes and spending would have failed on the House floor last night instead of securing passage in a 215-to-214 vote.)

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