Husband of Former Florida Politician Katherine Harris Found Dead

The husband of former congresswoman and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris was found dead, an apparent suicide, on Tuesday, according to police and a family pastor.

Swedish businessman Anders Ebbeson, 68, was found dead at the couple’s Sarasota home by officers who responded on Tuesday morning to “a report of an alleged suicide,” Sarasota Police Department said in a statement.

“On behalf of the family: Katherine’s husband took his own life,” Sarasota First Baptist Church Pastor William Hild told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Harris, a Republican, was secretary of state and became nationally known during the state’s controversial vote recount in the 2000 presidential election, which helped assure victory for George W. Bush.

She later served in Congress from 2003 to 2007 and retired after losing a U.S. Senate race to Democrat Bill Nelson.

The couple were married in 1996 and Ebbeson had been suffering from health issues in recent years, according to Hild.

Reporting By David Adams; editing by Gunna Dickson