Dems in Congress keep dying and its helping the Republicans razor-thin vote margins: Fundamentally broken

Democrats in congress are a dying breed.The death of Rep.Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), announced Wednesday, marks the third sitting member of the House Democratic caucus to pass away this year alone.

Since March, the Dems have lost Connolly, 75; Rep.Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), 70; and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), 77.All of the last eight deaths of sitting lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have been Democrats.

The deaths have boosted the GOP’s razor-thin margin for error in the House by at least one vote.While a few of the deaths were sudden or age-related, most of them were the result of cancer or other ailments that some of the late lawmakers knew about when running for reelection.Dem insiders on the Hill are getting frustrated that ailing candidates, like Connolly, have been allowed to keep their seats when the stakes are so high.“It is possible to both mourn the deaths of recently passed Democratic members of Congress and acknowledge that there is a fundamentally broken incentive structure in the party when it comes to aging,” a Democratic congressional staffer told The Post.The recent deaths have widened the initial threadbare 220-to-215 Republican House majority at the start of the year to 220-to-212 seats.Because tiebreakers lose, that means the GOP’s margin of error has increased from two votes to three.Unlike the Senate, House vacancies are filled by special elections rather than gubernatorial appointees in most states, meaning it will take time to replace those late reps.“We cannot say that democracy is on the line and then risk control of Congress (or the presidency for that matter) on the fragile medical status of those who the average person on the street would not trust as their Uber driver,” the House Dem staffer added.“Let’s get serious.”This dilemma drew renewed attention Wednesday after Connelly’s death.

He learned of his esophageal cancer diagnosis late last year, and revealed last month that it was spreading rapidly.Democrats h...