CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Doug Skaff Jr., a West Virginia newspaper executive and former Democratic legislative leader , died Tuesday following an accident on Interstate 79. He was 48.

Skaff came in second to Dr. Tom Takubo, who won as part of the 2014 Republican wave that saw the GOP take the majority in the House and Senate for the first time in more than 80 years.

“Doug Skaff was more than just a colleague; he was a friend to many of us, even after he left the legislature,” West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said in a statement.