Husband Of MO Republican Congressional Candidate Dies Of COVID-19

ASHLAND, MO — Steve Walsh, the husband of Republican state legislator and U.S. congressional candidate Sara Walsh, has died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to an announcement posted to Twitter. He was unvaccinated and had been on a ventilator since early August.

Both Steve and Sara Walsh, who was also unvaccinated, were diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month.

"Friends, please pray for my precious husband ... He is very sick and is in the hospital," Sara Walsh wrote on Twitter on Aug. 3. "We serve a miracle working God and tonight please help me get prayers lifted up for Steve's healing and recovery. Steve is my sweet love and my best friend in the whole world."

She tweeted on Aug. 14 that she had recovered and was out of quarantine but said her husband was still hospitalized.

Sara Walsh told local CBS affiliate KRCG on Aug. 5 that since she and her husband had gone for more than a year without contracting the coronavirus, she hadn't seen the need for them to get vaccinated. She also said she was concerned about risks associated with the shot, adding that vaccines should be a personal choice.

About 43.3 percent of Missouri's population is fully vaccinated, compared with 51.5 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most new coronavirus cases and nearly all hospitalizations and deaths across the country are among unvaccinated people, health officials say.

Side effects of the vaccines are similar to a typical flu shot: soreness at the injection site, fatigue, fever, chills and headache. Severe reactions are treatable and very rare.

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Steve Walsh served for more than a decade as U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler's press secretary. His wife is running to fill Hartzler's seat in Missouri's 4th District after the congresswoman announced plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2022.

“I am saddened at the loss of Steve Walsh, who served my office and Missouri’s Fourth District admirably for the past decade," Hartzler said in a statement Thursday morning. "We loved Steve for his enormous heart, passion for life, and the joy he brought to everyone who was lucky enough to meet him."