Louisiana State Senator Larry Selders has died at 44 after he is believed to have suffered a possible heart attack while at an event Tuesday evening. The Baton Rouge Democrat, elected to the State Senate last year, had been hospitalized in May for a heart condition.
Selders’ death removes a sitting member of the State Senate just months after he entered the chamber by winning the seat once held by Cleo Fields, who left to run for Congress. He was a former state representative who had moved quickly into the upper chamber after that election victory.
His office had said in May that he was receiving care from his medical team and was surrounded by loved ones, and that he would be temporarily unavailable while focusing on treatment and recovery. The later death after a reported cardiac emergency gives that earlier hospitalization added weight in hindsight, though the exact event he was attending Tuesday evening has not been made public.
Governor Jeff Landry said on social media that he and Sharon were deeply saddened to hear of Selders’ passing. He called him a gentle giant respected by all and said they would hold him and his family in their prayers.
Selders is survived by his wife and two sons, the people who now carry the loss most directly. What remains unresolved is the name of the event where he collapsed, but the larger fact is already fixed: Louisiana lost a senator who had only recently arrived in the State Senate and whose absence will be felt immediately.
