Abner Mikva, a former congressman, Illinois legislator, federal appellate judge and presidential adviser, has died. He was 90 years old.
Brian Brady, the head of Mikva Challenge, a leadership organization Mikva founded, says Mikva died Monday in hospice care at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Brady says he learned of the death from Mikva's daughters.
Mikva, a liberal voice and stalwart of Illinois' political landscape for decades, was most recently active in pushing for the U.S. Senate to consider the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
Mikva often told of how he initially tried to get involved in Chicago politics but was told: "We don't want nobody nobody sent."
Brady calls Mikva "the ideal public servant" who was saddened by growing bitter animosity between the parties in Washington.
