NY Congresswoman Louise Slaughter dies at 88 after taking fall last week

Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat who represented the Rochester area for more than 30 years, has died. She was 88.

The former chair of the Rules Committee — and the oldest member of the House — suffered a head injury after a fall, her office said.

Slaughter fell while at her Washington home last week, her chief of staff said.

“To have met Louise Slaughter is to have known a force of nature,” Slaughter's chief of staff Liam Fitzsimmons said in a statement. “She was a relentless advocate for Western New York whose visionary leadership brought infrastructure upgrades, technology and research investments, and two federal manufacturing institutes to Rochester that will transform the local economy for generations to come.”

Slaughter was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 after first serving in the State Assembly for two terms.