(CNN) Carl Levin, a former US senator from Michigan who advanced Democratic priorities throughout his 36-year tenure in Congress, has died, the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School said late Thursday in a statement. The former senator died Thursday at age 87. First elected to Congress 1978, Levin was the longest-serving US senator in Michigan's history. A Swarthmore College graduate who earned his law degree at Harvard, Levin prioritized civil rights advocacy early in his career through work at the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. He leveraged his work as a public defender in Detroit -- where he grew up -- and on the Detroit City Council to launch a national political career that saw him become a champion of the Democratic Party.

Source: CNN July 30, 2021 02:20 UTC