Rep. Scott, first Black person to chair Agriculture Committee, has died

Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., has died, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries confirmed Wednesday to MS NOW. He was 80.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served the district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Agriculture Committee,” Jeffries told MS NOW. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

Scott, who was first elected to represent Georgia’s 13th Congressional District in 2002, was running for a 13th term. He was the first Black lawmaker to chair the House agriculture panel, but was removed as the top Democrat on the committee in 2024 amid concerns about his health.

Politico reported in 2022 that people close to the congressman said his speech had been increasingly halting and he sometimes had trouble focusing on a topic. In 2024, Politico again reported that Scott “frequently reads from a script and at times has trouble carrying out substantive conversations in real time,” citing more than a dozen people, including lawmakers and congressional staff.