RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat who represents Virginia’s most populous county in Congress, said Thursday that he is battling esophageal cancer.

The announcement comes after Connolly, 74, handily won his ninth House term on Tuesday by defeating Republican Mike Van Meter, a Navy veteran and former FBI agent, in Virginia’s 11th District.

“I will attack this the only way I know how: with fight and Irish humor,” Connolly said in a statement.

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As he begins his new term representing Fairfax County and the wealthy suburbs outside Washington, the congressman will undergo chemotherapy and immunotherapy, he said. In his statement, Connolly said he had no symptoms other than occasional abdominal pains.

“My wonderful staff and I look forward to serving you all in this new term and beyond,” he said.

The congressman has been a fixture in Northern Virginia politics for about 30 years after he was first elected as Fairfax County Supervisor in 1995. In Congress, he has played a leading role in oversight investigations .

His tenure as a congressman has not been without difficulties. Last year, a man with a history of mental illness came to Connolly’s district office in Fairfax, Virginia. looking to kill him with a baseball bat. Connolly was not there, so the man, whom a judge had since found not guilty by reason of insanityattacked two employees.