Indiana U.S. Rep. Jim Baird is expected to make a full recovery after his vehicle was struck in a car accident that hospitalized him, the Republican’s office said Tuesday.
“He is extraordinarily grateful for everyone’s prayers during this time,” Baird’s congressional office said in a statement.
The statement did not include further details about the crash. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the congressman’s wife was also hospitalized.
“They’re going to be okay, but they had a pretty bad accident, and we’re praying that they get out of that hospital very quickly,” Trump said while speaking to House GOP members at a retreat at the Kennedy Center. “He’s going to be fine. She’s going to be fine.”
Baird, who represents the 4th Congressional District in west central Indiana, was first elected to Congress in 2018. He is 80 years old.
News of the accident came as Republicans in D.C. mourned the death of Republican Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. representative from California. His death, along with the resignation of Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, narrows the party’s control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.
In 2022, Indiana U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, a Republican, was killed in a head-on vehicle collision in her northern Indiana district. Two of her staffers traveling with her and the woman driving the other vehicle also died.
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This story has been updated to correct the year Baird was first elected to Congress. The year was 2018, not 2019.
By ISABELLA VOLMERT
Associated Press
