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A Washington State Senator, 52-years old Doug Ericksen has died after a battle with Covid-19. His death came weeks after he tested positive for COVID-19 during a trip to El Salvador, but his cause of death wasn’t immediately released. Ericksen’s wife, Tasha, and his two daughters issued a statement on Saturday and said, “We are heartbroken to share that our husband and father passed away on Friday. Please keep our family in your prayers and thank you for continuing to respect our privacy in this extremely difficult time”. Ericksen represented the 42nd District in Whatcom County, had sent an email to his Republican colleagues in the Washington House and Senate in November saying he had tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after he arrived in El Salvador.

Ericksen asked them for advice on how to receive monoclonal antibodies, which were not available in the country. He wrote, “I cannot get back home, and it’s to the point that I feel it would be beneficial for me to receive an iv of monoclonal antibodies (Regeneron). I have a doctor here who can administer the iv, but the product is not available here”. Former state Rep. Luanne Van Werven said that Ericksen was recovering at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but it was not clear where he was when he died. Ericksen had been in the Washington Legislature since 1998, serving six terms in the state House of Representatives before being elected to the state Senate in 2010. He was a former leader of Donald Trump’s campaign in Washington.

Ericksen was also an outspoken critic of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 emergency orders and introduced legislation earlier this year that he said was designed to protect the rights of those who don’t want to get vaccinated. He repeatedly hit out at Inslee after the governor announced that state employees would face termination if they were not fully vaccinated by October 18. In August, Ericksen said, “This is one time I wish I wasn’t a prophet. But it was easy to see in January where this was heading, after months of emergency decrees from the governor’s office and no input from the people. When our colleagues voted to extend the governor’s emergency powers indefinitely, they invited this abuse of government authority. This bill isn’t pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. It is a pro-individual choice. We need to respect the right of people to make decisions for them”.