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Rep. David Scott, First Black House Ag Chair, Dies at 80 After 23 Years

Rep. David Scott, First Black House Ag Chair, Dies at 80 After 23 Years
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Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat who represented metro Atlanta in Congress for more than two decades and became the first Black chair of the powerful House Agriculture Committee, died Wednesday at age 80, a day after casting what would be his final vote on the House floor farmprogress +1. Scott, who was in the midst of a reelection campaign for a 13th term in Georgia’s 13th District, died after a 50‑year career in elected office stretching from the state legislature to Washington farmprogress +2.

Scott, born on a small tobacco farm in Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, rose from modest beginnings to earn degrees from Florida A&M University and the Wharton School before entering advertising and Georgia politics congress +1. First elected to Congress in 2002, he became a fixture in a safely Democratic district south and west of Atlanta, focusing on agriculture, financial services and constituent services like job and health fairs farmprogress +1.

From Farm Roots to Historic Agriculture Chair

Scott joined the House Agriculture Committee in 2003 and spent more than 20 years on the panel before Democrats elevated him to chair in 2021, making him the first Black lawmaker to oversee the nation’s farm, food and nutrition policy from that post 6abc +1. Colleagues said his rural upbringing shaped his priorities; Rep. James Clyburn noted that Scott “was born and raised on a little tobacco farm in South Carolina... and he never forgot that” farmprogress.

As chair, Scott championed farm safety‑net programs, nutrition assistance and targeted aid to smaller and historically disadvantaged producers congress. One of his signature achievements was securing $80 million in the 2018 farm bill to fund scholarships at the 19 historically Black 1890 land‑grant colleges and universities, support he later sought to make permanent through stand‑alone legislation congress +1. In March, the House Agriculture Committee approved an amendment renaming the 1890 National Scholars Program the David A. Scott Scholarship Program in the pending 2026 farm bill, a rare bipartisan tribute while he was still in office feedstrategy.

A Long Tenure, Late‑Career Scrutiny and a Sudden Vacancy

Scott’s death came as he faced an unusually competitive primary and rising questions about age and fitness that have dogged several longtime incumbents in both parties. Reports about his health and cognitive sharpness surfaced as early as 2022, and Democrats quietly moved to replace him atop the Agriculture Committee for the current Congress, despite his desire to stay in leadership davidscott +1. More recently, local reporting that he had skipped multiple recent elections — including the 2024 presidential race — fueled criticism from challengers who argued the veteran lawmaker had lost touch with constituents cbsnews +2.

Even so, the congressman remained active in Washington, casting a vote on the House floor on Tuesday, one day before his death was announced at a weekly meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus farmprogress +1. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called him “a trailblazer who served the district that he represented admirably” and said he would be “deeply missed” farmprogress. Under Georgia law, Gov. Brian Kemp must call a special election within 10 days to fill the vacancy, with the contest held at least 30 days after his proclamation, even as candidates were already organizing for the regularly scheduled November race in the deep‑blue district usatoday.

The Bigger Picture

Scott’s passing removed a veteran moderate voice from a narrowly divided House and underscored the generational handoff underway in both parties as aging incumbents retire, lose primaries or die in office. His legislative legacy will be felt most in agriculture and education policy — especially through the 1890 scholarship program that now bears his name — and in the network of farmers, veterans and students who benefited from his three decades of advocacy in Atlanta and Washington congress +1.