U.S. Rep. David Scott, a longtime Georgia Democrat who spent more than two decades in Congress, has died at 80, a family member confirmed Wednesday, setting off a scramble over one of metro Atlanta’s safest Democratic seats.
Scott represented Georgia’s 13th Congressional District since 2003, a deep-blue seat covering parts of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, and Rockdale counties. His death now triggers a vacancy that will be filled through a special election, a contest likely to draw a crowded Democratic field and little serious Republican threat.
A South Carolina native, Scott got his start in politics working on Andrew Young’s congressional campaign in 1972. Two years later, he launched his own run for office and won a seat in the Georgia House, where he served from 1975 to 1982.
“As State Representative, he authored laws to provide for gun safety, including creating background checks for gun purchases. He also made it a felony to knowingly sell or provide a firearm to a child or minor and held parents and guardians responsible for keeping their firearms away from children,” his congressional website said.
He also played a role in creating PeachCare, the state’s health insurance program for children.
Scott moved up to the Georgia Senate in 1982 and served there for two decades, from 1983 to 2002.
“In the Senate, he successfully passed several major laws including a moment of silence for reflection or prayer in Georgia’s public schools. He wrote the Georgia law that gives women with breast cancer surgery the right to determine their length of stay in the hospital and level of medical care in consultation with their physician, rather than having insurance companies make such critical health decisions. He authored the law to limit and restrict landfills in residential neighborhoods, cleaning rivers and streams, and protecting underground water aquifers. He also passed the state law to provide sex education and AIDS prevention instruction in Georgia public schools,” his website said.
Elected to Congress in 2002, Scott went on to serve as chair of the House Agriculture Committee and held senior roles on the Financial Services Committee. He was also a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
His absence leaves a temporary gap on the Agriculture Committee and removes a veteran voice from Georgia’s congressional delegation, though Democrats are expected to retain the seat once a replacement is chosen.
The bigger fight is likely to come inside the Democratic Party, where local officials, state lawmakers and rising figures are expected to jockey for position in a district where the primary effectively decides the winner.
Scott graduated with honors from Florida A&M University in 1967. He later earned an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969.
He is survived by his wife, Alfredia, and daughters Dayna and Marcy.
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