Boggs suffers stroke

Portland mayoral candidate John Boggs is recovering after suffering a mild stroke last week.

He plans to continue his run.

“I don’t plan on withdrawing from the race whatsoever,” Boggs said.

Boggs, the Republican candidate for mayor and general manager of WPGW Radio, explained during a brief phone interview Sunday that he woke up Tuesday morning with weakness in his right side. It was diagnosed as a mild stroke, he added.

“Before that, I got dizzy and was unstable,” he said, noting that those episodes began Aug. 3. “The doctor said that was probably a precursor.”

Boggs, 68, has been in treatment since then in the acute therapy department at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. He is expected to be at the facility for the next 10 to 14 days undergoing therapy to help the right side of his body function properly.

“The doctors tell me that they expect me to have full recovery over time,” said Boggs. “No permanent damage.”

He said he plans to sit down with local media and talk more in depth about his health situation and his campaign after his release from Ball.

Boggs was uncontested in the Republican primary for mayor in May. He is set to face off in November against two-term incumbent Democrat Randy Geesaman, who defeated Bart Darby in the primary.

He has worked at WPGW since 2009, following positions with Indianapolis Broadcast Business, Impulse Broadcast Systems and DRG. He is a 1969 graduate of Portland High School.