Rep. Allan Nunnelee, a Republican, has died, his family announced Friday.
Nunnelee, 56, was a three-term Congressman who was part of the 2010 Republican wave.
Nunnelee underwent brain surgery last June after doctors found a “small intracranial mass” on the right side of his brain, according to the Clarion-Ledger. After surgery, he was in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers, all while receiving chemotherapy.
He was hospitalized again Dec. 28 in Mississippi, unable to take the oath of office for the 114th Congress on Jan. 6. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills swore him in a week later at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
A fiscal and social conservative, Nunnelee was one of three GOP freshman given a seat on the Appropriations Committee in 2011. He was also vice chairman of the panel’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies.
Before being elected to Congress, Nunnelee — who was “highly respected in the House,” according to former Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott — was a state senator for more than 15 years.
Nunnelee is survived by his wife, Tori, and their three children.
