Mississippi lieutenant governor collapses on floor of Senate

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After Mississippi's lieutenant governor collapsed on the floor of the state Senate Wednesday, he released a statement saying he had been dehydrated.

Video from the Senate chamber showed Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann standing at a podium at the front of the chamber when he leaned forward and then fell to the floor. Several people immediately rushed to his aid and the Senate quickly recessed.

Hosemann's office released a statement a short while later saying he was “doing well and in good spirits” and expressing his appreciation for medical staff. The lieutenant governor later issued a statement thanking people for their “kind words and prayers” and explaining that he had been dehydrated but was “feeling fine now.”

“I am grateful for Mississippi’s phenomenal medical professionals and am ready to go back to work tomorrow,” Hosemann said in the statement. "Lesson learned: Stay hydrated.”

Gov. Tate Reeves posted on the social platform X that he and his wife “are praying for Lieutenant Governor Hosemann!” State lawmakers also posted messages of support.

Just a week earlier, on Feb. 12, Hosemann had presented a $326 million tax cut package that he said would cut taxes over the next four years but said it needed to be “sustainable.” It includes reducing the state income tax and the sales tax on groceries, and also proposes raising the gasoline tax to pay for road work.