Earlier this year, cases of COVID-19 had drastically reduced in the United States. Developments in medicine and best practices by the general public had made a significant impact. However, the emergence of the Delta variant has caused things to go in a reverse direction. Especially given the stubborn refusal of too many to take the appropriate safety measures.
Cases of COVID-19 have also begun to rise again among members of the United States Congress. This may have been of particular notice on August 19, 2021. As noted by CNN and MSN, three members of the United States Senate separately announced that they'd tested positive.
Roger Wicker of Mississippi was the first
Republican Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker announced his diagnosis during the morning of the 19th. He'd apparently begun feeling ill and quickly sought out a test for the novel Coronavirus.
Wicker is currently the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee. Earlier this year, he left the position of chairman of the same committee. He was originally appointed to the Senate in 2007 by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. Wicker's Senate predecessor, Trent Lott, had chosen to retire early from Congress. Lott was the Senate minority whip at the time and had twice been the majority leader in the past. Wicker was elected in his own right in 2008, 2012, and 2018.
Previously, Wicker was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He was first elected from Mississippi's 1st District in 1994, succeeding retiring Democrat Jamie Whitten. He'd also been a state senator. Previously, Wicker was a U.S. House page for Whitten and a House Rule Committee counsel for Lott.
In addition to his career in politics, Roger Wicker served in the United States Air Force.
He retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Maine's Angus King followed suit
The second senator to announced they'd been diagnosed with COVID-19 was Angus King, an Independent from Maine. He was tested for the novel coronavirus after starting to feel sick the night before.
Earlier in life, King had been a member of the Democratic Party.
He was the chief counsel to a U.S. Senate subcommittee and a staffer for Senator William Hathaway.
After leaving the Democratic Party, King was elected governor of Maine in 1994 in a three-way race. Emerging over Democratic former Governor and U.S. Representative Joseph E. Brennan and future Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Becoming one of the rare Independents in American politics to reach a high office.
In 1998, King was re-elected as governor. Later, he was elected to the Senate in 2012 after Republican Olympia Snowe announced her retirement. He was re-elected in 2018.
And, finally, there was John Hickenlooper from Colorado
During the afternoon of the 19th, Colorado Democrat John Hickenlooper added his name to the list.
He, too, had begun feeling ill and subsequently took a test that came back positive.
Hickenlooper comes from a prominent family, including Republican Iowa U.S. Senator and Governor Bourke B. Hickenlooper. The younger Hickenlooper was elected to the Senate last year, defeating Republican incumbent Cory Gardner.
In 2010, he was elected as Colorado's governor. He would win another term in 2014. Before that, he was first elected as the mayor of Denver in 2003. Promoting bipartisan policies, he became regarded as one of the country's best mayors. In 2007, he was re-elected in an exceptionally dominant fashion with nearly 90% of the vote.
