87-year-old Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson), the second-oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was rushed back to the hospital this weekend from a rehabilitation facility he entered last week after an earlier 24-day hospital stay, leaving serious questions about his ability to seek re-election this year and serve another two-year term in Congress.
Pascrell first checked himself into the hospital on Sunday, July 14 with a fever and was treated for a respiratory infection. He required breathing assistance after his health issues became more serious during the weekend of July 20. But Pascrell fought back, and his office announced on August 7 that he had been discharged from St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson.
That improvement in his condition, however, evidently proved to be short-lived.
The congressman’s newest health issue comes with a political deadline: if he decides not to seek re-election, he has until August 27 to drop out of the race, and Democratic county committee members in the Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson municipalities in New Jersey’s 9th district have until August 29 to pick a replacement candidate.
Pascrell faces Republican Billy Prempeh for the third straight time in the 9th congressional district. Pascrell won their 2022 contest 55%-44% and their 2020 contest 66%-32% (in an earlier, bluer version of the district).
Back in June, Pascrell won a Democratic primary fight against Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah by a 76%-24% margin. Other prospective candidates, including Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh and Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-North Haledon), had considered challenging Pascrell but ultimately decided against it.
If Pascrell wins this November, he’ll become the oldest member of the House thanks to the retirement of 87-year-old Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-California), and the second-oldest member of Congress overall after Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. The prospective fifteenth term he is seeking this year would end just under a month before his 90th birthday.
The illness caused Pascrell to miss one week of votes in Congress; the House has been on its August recess since July 25 and will not return until early September. He will not be attending the Democratic National Convention next week.