COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio representative for a portion of Delaware County has died.

Kris Jordan, 46, died Saturday from natural causes, according to Ohio Sen. Andrew Brenner and the Delaware County Republican Party.

Jordan, a Republican, was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2009, where he served until Jan. 2011, moving over to the Ohio Senate for seven years. He was returned to the House in 2018, representing Ohio’s 60th House District, covering the western portion of Delaware County.

Before being elected to the statehouse, Jordan served for six years as a Delaware County commissioner, first being elected to the post at 25.

According to his statehouse biography, he received his Bachelor’s degree in political science from Ohio State University.

In his social media post, Brenner said Jordan is survived by his parents and three children.

“Kris has been a friend of mine since the early 90s. Together we created the first Teenage Republican Club in Delaware County, and he was the first president,” Brenner posted. “Through the years, we have given one another political advice, been friends, and always talked on a regular basis.”

“My heart goes out to Kris’s family, especially his three children and loving parents, Ralph and Pat,” Ohio Speaker of the House Jason Stephens said in a press release, adding he considered Jordan “a very dear friend.”

Jordan was one of the architects of Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill, first introduced in 2016, moving to add anti-abortion language to an unrelated House Bill 493 when that bill hit the Senate, calling for a ban on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Then-Gov. John Kasich vetoed that bill but signed another restrictive abortion bill at that time that banned nearly all second-term abortions.

Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered all flags at Ohio Statehouse and public buildings be flown at half-staff in Jordan’s memory.