Marion Barry dead at 78

Former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry died early Sunday at the age of 78, according to multiple reports.

{mosads}Barry’s family did not give a cause of death in a statement announcing his death, according to The Washington Post, which noted Barry has suffered from diabetes, prostate cancer and kidney ailments.

Washington Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser called Barry an “inspiration” and a “fighter” during a morning press conference, The Associated Press reported.

Barry “lived up until the minute the way he wanted to live,” Bowser told reporters, according to the wire service.

A civil rights activist in the 1960s, Barry also served on the city’s council.

Barry served six months in a federal prison after he was seen on FBI surveillance video smoking crack cocaine.

Barry remained a beloved figure to many D.C. voters. He won a fourth term as mayor after his release from prison and lost only once at the polls in an electoral history stretching back to 1971.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said in a statement that he will work with Barry’s family to “Plan official ceremonies worthy of a true statesman of the District of Columbia.”

“Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city,” Gray said. “He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him.”

President Obama noted that Barry was born a sharecropper’s son who during his decades in elected office put in place “historic programs to lift people out of poverty, expand opportunity and begin to make real the promise of home rule.”

“Through a storied, at times tumultuous life and career, he earned the love and respect of countless Washingtonians, and Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathies to Marion’s family, friends and constituents today,” Obama said in a statement.

Barry played a role — whether he wanted to or not — in this year’s D.C. mayoral contest.

David Catania, a Republican-turned-independent, launched a late ad campaign attacking his Democratic opponent, Bowser, by linking her directly to Barry’s controversial image.

In fliers, Catania hammered Bowser as just another in a long list of D.C. politicians enmeshed in a Democratic machine that’s often been plagued by corruption charges and other legal troubles.

—This report was updated at 12:36 p.m.