Husband of Kathleen Harris commits suicide

Kathleen Harris, the former Florida secretary of state, gained national name recognition for her role in the 2000 election Florida recount. In 2002, Harris was elected to the Congress but left the public spotlight after losing a U.S. Senate race to incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson.

According to local news reports, police were called to Harris' house early Tuesday morning and found her husband, Anders Ebbeson, dead from an apparent suicide:

Police and Pastor William Hild of downtown Sarasota's First Baptist Church confirmed that Ebbeson, a 68-year-old Swedish businessman, had taken his own life and asked the community to respect the family's privacy.

"On behalf of the family, Katherine's husband took his own life," Hild said outside the home on Bay Point Drive Tuesday morning. "They are asking for privacy, prayer, thoughts and love from the community."

"Anders has been suffering health conditions that he'd been attempting to deal with, which had been increasingly part of his life," Hild said.

Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said that Harris wanted the community to know that her husband was "no longer suffering."