Utah Rep. Rob Bishop suffers mild stroke

Just days before retiring from Congress, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, 69, suffered what he says was a mild stroke on Monday evening.

The Utah Republican was released Wednesday from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

“He expects to make a full recovery, and is back to his witty and dry-humored self,” said Bishop’s chief of staff, Adam Stewart. “Mobility on his right side has been his only issue.”

Bishop told his former spokesman Lee Lonsberry, the host of KSL Newsradio’s “Live Mic,” that he had blurry vision, trouble with his balance and pain on his right side as the stroke hit.

“When it was happening to me, I didn’t know what was happening,” Bishop told Lonsberry.

Bishop said he will do physical therapy in coming weeks and, “I don’t think I am going to have lasting results.”

Bishop, a longtime member of the House Armed Services Committee, lamented missing a vote Tuesday on the annual defense authorization bill.

“That is the reason I am back here,” he said on the radio. He said it contains provisions critical to Utah’s Hill Air Force Base that include F-35 funding, more money to hire veterans and additional spending for the ground-based missile deterrent system.

The base is one of Utah’s largest employers.

Other members of the Utah delegation were wishing him well.

Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted, “Sending best wishes to my friend Rob Bishop. Ann and I wish him a speedy and full recovery.”

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, tweeted, “Sending prayers to my mentor & friend Rob and his family. Wishing him a speedy recovery. We love you, brother.”

Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, tweeted, “I am sorry to hear this. Sue and I will be praying for you, friend. Hope you’re able to get some rest and keep recovering — no pickleball!”

Bishop is the senior member of Utah’s congressional delegation, first elected in 2003.

After he announced his retirement earlier this year, he ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor with Thomas Wright.

Bishop is the outgoing ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, and is its former chairman.

Bishop is also a former speaker of the Utah House, and former chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Before his election to Congress, he was a high school history teacher in Brigham City.

Rep.-elect Blake Moore, R-Utah, won the election to replace Bishop.