LITTLE ROCK — U.S. representative from Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. - U.S. Rep.
Jo Ann Davis, a Republican who represented southeastern Virginia for seven years, died Saturday morning after a two-year battle with breast cancer, her office said.
Davis, 57, died at her home in Gloucester.
Davis was found to have breast cancer in 2005 and had a recurrence this year. Her health took a turn for the worse during the past week, her office said.
She became Virginia's first Republican woman elected to Congress in 2000, and she was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee.
"She inspired Virginians as she battled breast cancer while continuing to serve the commonwealth," Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The governor will schedule a special election, probablybefore the end of the year, to fill the remaining year of Davis' term, Kaine spokesman Delacey Skinner said.
Her first piece of legislation, passed by the House in 2001, increased the life insurance benefit paid to survivors of servicemen killed on duty.
Before Congress, Davis served four years in the Virginia House of Delegates.
She attended Hampton Roads Business College; she got her real-estate license in 1984 and her real-estate broker's license four years later. In 1990, she opened Jo Ann Davis Realty.
She underwent chemotherapy treatments and a mastectomy when her cancer was first diagnosed in 2005. When the cancer returned, she underwent chemotherapy again and often monitored hearings from home.
Survivors include her husband, Chuck, two sons and a granddaughter.
Arkansas, Pages 24 on 10/07/2007