Larry Rasky, a longtime adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden, posthumously tested positive for the coronavirus after he died Sunday at the age of 69.
Will Rasky, his son, shared the news in a statement released by his father’s firm Rasky Partners, according to the Boston Globe.
“On Thursday night, we learned that my dad, Larry Rasky, tested positive for COVID-19,” Will Rasky said. “Not being able to gather with family and friends has made mourning Larry’s death all the more difficult, so the impact of the pandemic was already felt. That said, Larry’s spirit and legacy have kept us all tied together.”
The elder Rasky died on Sunday, his firm announced, with his son noting that his father also had preexisting medical conditions.
The late Rasky, who was a close confidant to Biden, was well known as a Boston public relations executive and for his aid on several top Democratic campaigns.
“He was a real friend,” Biden told the Boston Globe on Sunday. “He was also generous and sharp, and he just had a spirit about him. His passion for politics was amazing.”
Larry Rasky helped launch the Unite the Country super PAC, which supports Biden’s 2020 White House bid.
He also served as Biden’s press secretary when he represented Delaware in the Senate and ran for president in 1988.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry also lamented the death of Larry Rasky, saying that “Democratic politics can feel like a family.”
Larry Rasky previously served as a communications director for Kerry’s Senate campaign.
The former secretary of State added that Larry Rasky “was one of the most experienced, most capable, most well-liked, and in a way iconic” members of the party, with relationships extending back to the 1970s.