Senator Mark Warner ‘heartbroken’ over death of daughter, 36, after brutal health struggle

Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner announced on Monday that his 36-year-old daughter Madison died after a long struggle with juvenile diabetes.

‘We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison, 36, after a decades-long battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues,’ Warner and his wife Lisa Collis said in a statement. 

‘She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void,’ they added.

‘We are grateful for the loving support of friends and family during this difficult time and ask for privacy as we navigate this profound loss,’ the statement said. 

Warner’s congressional colleagues posted their condolences.

Texas Republican Congressman August Pfluger wrote on X: ‘I am incredibly sorry for your loss. Keeping you and your family in my prayers.’

Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican Congresswoman, wrote: ‘Our deepest condolences. We’re keeping your family in our prayers.’

Vermont Democrat Becca Balint noted that she was sorry for Warner’s loss, and added, ‘may Madison’s memory always be a blessing.’ 

Mark Warner with his family, in an image posted to his Facebook account in 2013. Madison is in the center

Madison Warner stands next to her father as he shakes hands with Joe Biden ahead of being sworn into office in 2009

From left, daughters Gillian, Madison and Eliza, and their mother, Lisa Collis, look on as Warner speaks during an election night party on November 4, 2008, in McLean, Virginia

Virginia’s Democrat Governor, Abigail Spanberger, noted in a statement that her ‘deepest condolences are with the Warner family as Mark and Lisa mourn their beloved daughter and Gillian and Eliza mourn their sister, Madison.’

‘Adam and I are holding them all in our hearts and prayers during this time of great loss,’ Spanberger also noted.

Warner was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and has been reelected twice since then, in 2014 and 2020. He is up for reelection later this year.

Warner and his wife live just outside of Washington, DC, in Alexandria, Virginia, and have two other daughters, Gillian and Eliza. 

Madison graduated from Brown University in 2012, per her LinkedIn, and kept out of the public eye despite her father’s significant political profile as a US senator for nearly two decades, and as Virginia’s governor from 2002 to 2006.

Type 1 diabetes is an incurable genetic condition, although experimental therapies are in development for the disease. 

Per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 2.1 million people have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the United States.

That number includes 1.8 million adults aged 20 or older, as well as 314,000 children and adolescents under 20.