Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., announced on Monday night that his teenage daughter died that morning at their family home.
“This morning, Congressman Casten’s beloved daughter, Gwen (17), passed away,” Casten’s office said in a statement. “The Casten family requests privacy, and we will be issuing no further comment during this heartbreaking time.”
An official for the Chicago Police Department told the Chicago Tribune that Gwen Casten was found “unresponsive” at about 7 a.m., and that “first responders determined that the subject was deceased.”
The Tribune reports that before her passing, Gwen Casten was involved in organizing the March for Our Lives, a campaign against gun violence. She previously interned for her father’s congressional campaign in 2020. Ammar Hussain, who interned with Casten at the time, told the Tribune that “it was amazing how she really wanted to do the right thing, but at the same time she was very lighthearted and had a great attitude.”
In a statement, Rep. Casten’s primary opponent, whom he faces due to recent redistricting, Rep. Marie Newman, D-Ill., told the newspaper in a statement: “My heart breaks for the Casten family for the devastating loss of their daughter. My prayers are with Sean, Kara, and the entire Casten family.”
The statement also noted that the campaign “is working to cease all comparative paid communications immediately.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.