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Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly has esophageal cancer, the longtime Virginia congressman announced in a statement Thursday.

“It was a surprise because apart from some intermittent abdominal pain I had no symptoms,” said Connolly, 74. “I will be undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy straight away. Cancer can be hard. But that’s me too. I will attack this the only way I know how – with Irish fighting and humor.”

Connolly represents Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, a wealthy and diverse area in northern Virginia and the D.C. suburbs. He has held the seat since 2009 and was re-elected to his ninth term on Tuesday after handily defeating Republican Mike Van Meter, a Marine veteran and former FBI agent, in the heavily blue district.

Connolly sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees. As the ranking Democratic member on a subcommittee on government innovation, Connolly is involved in government investments with federal contractors, a key part of the local economy he represents. He supported bills to change the way the federal government buys technology and reduce the number of reports federal agencies were required to disclose.

Connolly represents a diverse population, particularly a large group of Asian Americans. He is involved in leading international policy and sits on subcommittees focused specifically on Asia and the Middle East. He has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and suggested that the US “cannot continue to supply offensive weapons to a government that refuses to respect the laws of war,” but acknowledged that Israel faces significant threats from regional actors such as Hamas and Israel Hezbollah was exposed.

In November 2020, Connolly was elected President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he focused on strengthening the US presence within NATO.

Connolly is a harsh critic of Donald Trump, who voted to impeach the president-elect and denounced his anti-immigrant language.

This story has been updated with additional details.