Minnesota GOP Senate hopeful undergoes emergency surgery

Minnesota Senate candidate Jason Lewis (R) was rushed into surgery on Monday after he was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening internal hernia, his campaign said.

Lewis, a former one-term congressman, was taken to the emergency room early Monday morning after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed him with a “severe internal hernia” that his campaign said could prove deadly if not treated quickly.

“As such, Congressman Lewis was rushed into emergency surgery which he is now undergoing,” Lewis’s campaign manager Tom Szymanski said in a statement. 

“Prior to being taken to the operating room, Jason was in good spirits, optimistic, and true to form, he was speculating about when he could resume campaigning, eager to continue fighting for his fellow Minnesotans,” he added. 

Lewis’s campaign said later on Monday that the operation was successful.

“I am very pleased to report that according to Congressman Lewis’ doctor, his emergency surgery this morning to treat an internal hernia was successful and minimally invasive,” Lewis’s campaign manager Tom Szymanski said in a statement.

Lewis’s emergency operation comes just eight days before the Nov. 3 election, in which he’s facing off against incumbent Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.). 

Smith holds a comfortable lead in most recent surveys, although a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll released last week showed a much tighter contest, with Smith and Lewis statistically tied at 43 percent to 42 percent.

Smith wished Lewis well in a tweet posted shortly after news of the former congressman’s surgery broke on Monday.

“Archie and I are wishing Jason Lewis a successful surgery and a speedy recovery,” Smith wrote.

Archie and I are wishing Jason Lewis a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

— Tina Smith (@TinaSmithMN) October 26, 2020

Updated at 2:29 p.m.