Douglas Wright, the former mayor of Topeka, Kansas, has died, the local outlet 13 WIBW reports.

Wright was 75 years old at the time of his passing.

Authorities believe that he died of natural causes.

Per 13 WIBW:

The City of Topeka has confirmed that former mayor Doug Wright has died. Topeka Police officers responded to a report of a deceased individual around 4:30 p.m. The deceased was later identified as Wright. They believe Wright, who was 75, died of natural causes.

Who was he?

Wright came from a political family. In fact, his father - Chuck Wright - was Topeka's mayor during the period from 1965 to 1969. Douglas would end up following in his father's footsteps.

After graduating from Washburn Law School, Douglas Wright spent time working at Topeka's city attorney's office. There, he became the assistant city attorney.

Then, in 1983, Wright, entered into the running to become the mayor of Topeka. Wright, at the age of only 34 years old, won that race, defeating incumbent Mayor Bill McCormick.

Wright would serve as Topeka's mayor during a period from 1983 to 1989. Then, in 1989, Wright was defeated by Harry "Butch" Felker, who was the former Parks Commissioner. Wright lost to Felker by only 5,000 votes.

Both during his mayorship and after, many called upon Wright to run for the U.S. Congress, but, for many years, Wright refused to do so. After a vacancy appeared, Wright finally answered those calls in 1996, when he ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat. Wright, however, would go on to lose in the primary and to return to practicing law.

Remembering Wright

According to multiple outlets, Wright is best remembered for the way in which he guided Topeka through the aftermath of a devastating tornado that struck the city in 1966.

Some, however, may remember Wright for a less flattering reason. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports, "Wright continued to work as an attorney until being disbarred in 2003 and spending 10 months in prison on convictions linked to the theft of about $86,000 from an elderly great-aunt, whom he fully repaid."

The outlet adds:

Wright told The Capital-Journal in 2008 that he had begun making real estate deals that paid in large lump sums, but they tended to leave him strapped for cash while awaiting the payout, so he turned to the account he oversaw for his great-aunt and used it as a bank until the account ran short and some of her bills weren't paid.

This episode, however, appears to only be a blemish on Wright's reputation in the area.

The city of Topeka, following the news of Wright's passing, put out a statement in which it said, "We extend our condolences to Wright's loved ones."