Representative David Scott, R-Ga., questions HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge during a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled “Building a Better, More Equitable Housing Infrastructure for America: Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development” on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, at the Rayburn Building.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
Representative David Scott, Democrat of Georgia and the first black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80 years old.
Mr. Scott, who was seeking a 13th term in Congress despite opposition from within his own party, was once the Democratic Party’s leading voice on issues related to farm aid policy and consumer food aid, and was a prominent black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. However, he had faced criticism and concern in recent years due to his declining health, endured his first challenge in 2024, and was facing new challenges at the time of his death.
Democrats on Capitol Hill praised the longtime lawmaker.
“The news of Rep. Scott’s passing is extremely saddening,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Wednesday.
“David Scott was a pioneer who served the district he represented admirably and rose from humble beginnings to become the first African-American to chair the House Agriculture Committee,” Jeffries said. “He cared about the people he represented. He was passionate about getting things done for the people of our great state of Georgia and will be sorely missed.”
News of Scott’s death came during a weekly luncheon held by the Congressional Black Caucus at the Capitol. Rep. Yvette Clark, chair of the Black Caucus, told lawmakers at the beginning of the meeting, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Many lawmakers in the room, some of whom had served under Mr. Scott for decades, were shocked and saddened by the news.
Scott’s death slightly expands Republicans’ narrow House majority heading into the midst of this midterm election.
The lawmaker has not been particularly active in the 2026 election campaign, but has rejected pressure to retire.
“Thank God I’m healthy, physically active, and working for people,” Scott said in 2024.
David Albert Scott was born in rural Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, during the Jim Crow segregation era. He is a graduate of Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest historically black college campuses, and was an outspoken advocate for federal support for HBCUs during his tenure. Scott also earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was already a veteran state legislator in Georgia before being elected to Congress in 2002.
