Washington — Joe Lieberman, a longtime senator from Connecticut who was the Democratic Party’s nominee for vice president in 2000, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 82.
Lieberman, who served in the upper chamber from 1989 to 2013, died from complications from a fall, according to a statement from his family.
“His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed,” the statement said. “Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest.”
Jose Luis Magana / AP
Lieberman was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, when he became the first Jewish candidate on a major political party ticket. The pair lost against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney when the Supreme Court controversially halted a ballot recount in Florida.
Over the next several years he broke from his fellow Democrats on a number of issues, most notably his support for the Iraq War. In 2004, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for president. He won his final term in the Senate as an independent in 2006.
Lieberman was also a founding chairman of No Labels, a centrist political group that is trying to lay the groundwork for a third-party presidential “unity ticket” in 2024.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called Lieberman “one of one.”
“Connecticut is shocked by Senator Lieberman’s sudden passing. In an era of political carbon copies, Joe Lieberman was a singularity,” Murphy wrote on social media. “He fought and won for what he believed was right and for the state he adored.”
His funeral will be held Friday at Congregation Agudath Sholom in his hometown of Stamford. A memorial service is expected at a later date.
