Senator says he’s on the mend after stroke

Lujan vows to return to work to vote on president’s Supreme Court selection

In his first public comments since he suffered a stroke last month, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., said he is on his way to a full recovery and vowed to be back on the Senate floor in time to consider President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee.

“I’m doing well. I’m strong,” Lujan said in a video posted Sunday to his social media accounts in which he was flanked by two doctors from the University of New Mexico Hospital. “I’m going to walk out of here. I’m going to beat this, and I’m going to be stronger once I come out.”

Lujan, 49, began experiencing dizziness and fatigue on the morning of Jan. 27 and checked himself into a hospital in Santa Fe, his chief of staff, Carlos Sanchez, said earlier this month. Lujan was transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where he underwent decompressive surgery to ease swelling in his brain, Sanchez said.

In his video Sunday, Lujan said he would be discharged soon to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, where his recovery would “take a few more weeks.”

“I’m proud to report then I’ll be back on the floor of the United States Senate in just a few short weeks to vote on important legislation and to consider a Supreme Court nominee,” he added.

Lujan’s absence comes as Biden is searching for a Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who recently announced his intention to retire at the end of this court term. Biden has said he plans to announce a nominee by the end of February.

Democrats, who hold a narrow 50-50 majority in the Senate — with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote — will need a unified front if they want to confirm Biden’s nominee without the help of Republicans when the full Senate votes.

In the video Sunday, Diana Greene-Chandos, an associate professor of neurology at University of New Mexico Hospital, said they discovered that a tear in Lujan’s vertebral artery was the cause of his stroke. The surgery to relieve pressure in his brain was successful, she said, and he “continues to make significant progress.”

Michel Torbey, the chair of the hospital’s neurology department, described Lujan in the video as “the type of patient who would take his health seriously” and put in the work required for a full recovery.

“It is crucial for us to work and educate the community about the signs of stroke,” Torbey said. “Identifying those signs and acting on them quickly could save your life and the life of a loved one.”