RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's family accepted honors on her behalf at a North Carolina Democratic Party event because she was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Hagan had planned to attend Saturday night's annual Democratic "Unity Dinner" in Raleigh.
But party spokesman Robert Howard said in an email Sunday that she was hospitalized with pneumonia and couldn't attend. Howard said she is doing well and should be released in the coming days.
She's also continuing to recover from a brain inflammation condition.
Hagan was hospitalized in December 2016 and later received treatment in Georgia. Her family said Hagan's encephalitis was caused by a virus spread by ticks from animals to humans.
The Greensboro Democrat defeated Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008. She lost her seat in 2014 to Republican Thom Tillis.
