WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke last week and is expected to make a full recovery, his chief of staff said in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday.
The statement said Lujan, 49, suffered a stroke last Thursday, underwent surgery to ease swelling and is hospitalized in Albuquerque in his home state of New Mexico.
Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote in the 50-50 Senate, where their razor-thin majority hangs on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
They have big votes coming up, including to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and a possible second attempt to pass some of Biden’s “Build Back Better” domestic spending bill.
It was unclear whether any Republicans would join Biden’s Democrats in voting for his nominee as Supreme Court confirmation votes have become highly partisan.
If any senator were to become unable to serve, many states have laws allowing their governors to appoint a temporary successor. New Mexico has a Democratic governor.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
