Jay Rockefeller, former West Virginia governor and US senator who was part of a dynasty, dies at 89

CNN · Fox News, Fox News and CBS News report that Jay Rockefeller, who went from West Virginia governor to three decades in the U.S. Senate, has died at 89. He was the last figure in his famous family's political dynasty, and the only Democrat among them. The news came from Mary Stewart of WETA, the public broadcaster his wife, Sharon, leads; his death occurred Thursday night at home in Washington.

He arrived in West Virginia in 1964 through an anti-poverty program, entered the state legislature in 1966, lost the 1972 governor's race to Arch A. Moore Jr., and won the office in 1976. CBS News adds that he wrote the 1997 law creating the Children's Health Insurance Program and later regretted his 2002 vote for the Iraq war.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Moore's daughter and Rockefeller's successor, called him "a true gentleman." Fox News adds that former Sen. Joe Manchin described him as a mentor, while CNN · Fox News includes praise from Gov. Patrick Morrisey. CBS News alone notes his split with the Obama administration over mountaintop removal mining oversight.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · Fox News, Fox News and CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · Fox News → Also at Fox News → Also at CBS News →