Flags Will Be Lowered To Half-Staff Tuesday To Honor Rep. Alcee Hastings

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Flags will be lowered to half-staff Tuesday at the state Capitol in honor of Congressman Alcee Hastings, who died this week at age 84.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order Thursday that also calls for state and U.S. flags to be at half-staff at the Palm Beach County Courthouse and Delray Beach City Hall.

Hastings, a Democrat who represented parts of South Florida in the U.S. House for nearly three decades, died Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Hastings announced in January 2019 that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Hastings was the longest-serving member of Florida's congressional delegation at the time of his death, after getting re-elected in 2020 to the District 20 seat with nearly 79 percent of the vote. The district includes parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Hastings' 1992 election was a landmark event as he and two other Black Democrats --- Corrine Brown and Carrie Meek --- were elected to Congress.

DeSantis will have to schedule a special election to replace Hastings.