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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee said Friday that he's returning to Mississippi to continue recovering from a stroke while he runs for re-election.
The 55-year-old from Tupelo had a stroke while undergoing brain surgery June 9 in Texas, and he has had radiation, chemotherapy and physical rehabilitation in Maryland. He has said the stroke caused speech and mobility problems.
"My recent illness has caused me to be hospitalized for an extended period and unfortunately, it has physically separated me from the places and people I dearly love," Nunnelee wrote in an email Friday. "My medical team says I have made significant progress, and in their expert opinion, I am now ready to return to my beloved Mississippi for the remainder of my outpatient stroke rehabilitation."
Nunnelee is seeking re-election to the north Mississippi seat he first won in 2010.
Democrat Ron Dickey, Libertarian Danny Bedwell and the Reform Party's Lajena Walley also are on the Nov. 4 ballot in the 1st Congressional District. Federal Election Commission records show the three challengers have raised little campaign cash.
Nunnelee served in the state Senate from 1995 until he unseated Democratic U.S. Rep. Travis Childers in 2010. During his final years in the state Capitol, he was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He now serves on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.
Nunnelee said he is grateful for messages from people who shared Bible verses.
"I look forward to seeing face-to-face those of you who have faithfully prayed for me," he wrote.
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