Danny Alvares died a day after winning the primary to be a Jefferson County district judge in Louisville, Kentucky.
Details surrounding the 43-year-old attorney's death were unclear. The Courier-Journal reported he collapsed at home on Wednesday and was taken to Baptist East Hospital where he later died.
Alvares was the top-vote among four candidates in the running for the 9th Division primary and in November he would have faced Tanisha Ann Hickerson, who came in second.
According to his website, Alvares was born in New York City to immigrant parents and grew up in an English and Spanish-speaking household.
In 1997 he graduated from the University of Louisville with a bachelor of arts in history and went on to study law at the University of Louisville in 2000.
His career had been marked with various accolades, including receiving the Louisville Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Award in 2007 and being selected by Time as a "Top Lawyer 2014."
As an attorney, his area of focus was criminal charges, immigration matters and individuals involved in accidents.
Law practitioners representing legal immigrants have recently spoken out, saying that virtually every form of legal immigration to the U.S. is under siege, including high-skilled immigrants who used to have had their visas continually renewed as they wait for a green card who now face increased scrutiny and uncertainty.
Alvares said on his website that he knew first hand of the struggles encountered by those who are "new to this country."
Upon hearing of his death, Judge Stephanie Burke released a statement describing Alvares as "one of the finest people to ever work in the local criminal justice system,” and who "would have made an incredible jurist," Wave 3 News reported.
"He was such an advocate for encouraging diversity and fairness. The whole legal community is completely devastated."
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer took to Twitter to pay tribute to the attorney.
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