Washinton state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a rigid conservative, died last Friday at age 52, his family confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Why it matters: The Washington Republican's death Friday came a month after he told a local radio station that he had tested positive for coronavirus while in El Salvador, per CNN. Ericksen's cause of death has not been made public.
(The weather app on my phone also tracks Covid cases and deaths here in WA, and both have been on a steady increase for at lest the last 6 months.)