Former Sen. Joe Lieberman Dead at 82

Joe Lieberman, who was Al Gore‘s running mate in the disputed 2000 election, is dead after suffering a fall at home.

The former U.S. Senator’s family says he fell while at home Tuesday night, and he passed away on Wednesday.

Joe was first elected to the Senate, representing Connecticut, in 1989 … and he retired in 2013. He was a Democrat for most of his political career, but declared himself an Independent late in his political career.

Gore selected him to be his VP during the hotly contested 2000 campaign for the White House, which of course George W. Bush eventually won.

Joe himself decided to run for the presidency in 2004, but lost the primaries to Sen. John Kerry. In 2008, he famously went against party allegiance and endorsed Sen. John McCain for the presidency, over Barack Obama. He cited the war on terrorism as his primary motive for backing McCain.

Lieberman was the first Jewish person to make it on a Presidential ticket for either major political party. Just last week, he wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, criticizing Sen. Chuck Schumer‘s speech calling for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Joe is survived by his wife, Hadassah, who he married in 1982, as well as 3 children and several grandchildren.

He was 82.