Former Maryland House Speaker Casper Taylor Dead at 88

U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) witnesses the bill signing with Casper Taylor (2ndL), the speaker of the Maryland House, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening (C), Mike Miller (R), the Maryland State Senate president and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (rear), of the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000 bill signing at the State Assembly Lobby of the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis, Maryland on April 11, 2000. Stephen Jaffe/AFP via Getty Images

Casper Taylor Jr., a prominent and long-serving Maryland politician who was once speaker of the state’s House of Delegates, died on Monday aged 88.

Taylor died in his sleep on Monday morning. He was a Democrat from Cumberland in western Maryland who represented a district located in Allegany County.