Doug Kendall, advocate for nation's progressive roots, dies

WASHINGTON (AP) - The founder and president of the left-leaning Constitutional Accountability Center, Doug Kendall, has died at the age of 51.

The Washington-based think tank and public interest law firm says in a statement that Kendall died Saturday after a bout with colon cancer.

Kendall founded the center in 2008 to provide a counterweight to conservative interpretations of the Constitution and the history behind it. He argued that the Constitution was a progressive document.

Kendall was a New Jersey native who earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.

He was an associate at the law firm of Crowell and Moring before doing public interest work at the National Environmental Trust.

Kendall is survived by his wife and daughter.