Gayle Conelly Manchin: Senator Joe Manchin's wife hospitalized following a car crash on the way to a hotel

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: United States Senator Joe Manchin's wife, Gayle Conelly Manchin, has been hospitalized and is in "stable condition" following a car crash, the West Virginia lawmaker said, as per NBC News. 

"On Monday, January 29, my wife Gayle and her colleague Guy Land were involved in a car accident on the way from the airport to the hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, for an Appalachian Regional Commission event that was planned for today," Manchin announced in a statement issued Tuesday morning, January 30. 

What led to the accident?

ARC elaborated in its own statement that "another vehicle struck their car" while they were driving to attend a grant workshop. Senator Manchin said that both Gayle and Land were admitted to a local hospital where they are receiving "excellent care," adding, "[Gayle] remains in stable condition but will stay there for a couple of days for precautionary measures."

Gayle Conelly Manchin is the former first lady of West Virginia

The 76-year-old is the former first lady of West Virginia, who later served as president of the West Virginia Board of Education and as the state's secretary of education and the arts under Republican Governor Jim Justice. She is currently the federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Senator Joe Manchin has recently been in the news

Senator Manchin has been in the news recently for mulling a possible third-party presidential run after making a surprise announcement in November that he wouldn't seek reelection to the US Senate. Manchin is a rare Democrat elected to represent a deeply conservative state, and his retirement from Congress effectively hands his Senate seat to the Republican Party.

In November, the outgoing senator said he was "having a hard time" with his plans for the future, telling reporters during an event in Charleston. “The two-party system, unless it changes, will be the downfall of our country," he said, the Associated Press reported.

In January, when asked again if he would consider joining a third-party ticket, Manchin suggested that he needs to see how the primary elections play out first. "If there's going to be an option or a need for an option, you'll find out by [Super Tuesday]," he told the reporters, adding "By March, you're going to have pretty much a lay of the land and what you're going to have and what you're going to be offered."

Manchin was the governor of West Virginia from 2005 until 2010 when he was elected to the Senate in a special election. His tenure in Congress has courted controversy among fellow Democrats, as he's repeatedly blocked the party's agenda to appease his conservative voter base.