By MARY SELL and TODD STACY, Alabama Daily News
AUBURN, Ala. – Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday reiterated that she’d been given a “clean bill of health” and told reporters to move on from asking questions about medical procedures.
“Let’s get beyond this and talk about important topics such as how can we do better to get our students to have good outcomes from their educational endeavors or what can we do to create more opportunities for STEM innovation laboratories …,” Ivey, 77, said in response to a question from Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman.
“Let’s get on with the important things in life and let’s move on beyond this nonsense.”
Ivey was speaking at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Auburn, where she announced tourism in Alabama has climbed to $24 billion.
In late 2019, Ivey underwent treatment for lung cancer. In early 2020, she was declared cancer-free by her doctor.
Last week, Ivey told reporters “it just seems like a lot of you just want to will these rumors into being,” when asked about her health.
Speculation about Ivey’s health grew earlier this month after she had no public appearances for more than a week. Inside Alabama Politics reported that Ivey suffered from a non-emergency intestinal issue that eventually required outpatient treatment at UAB.
Publicly, Ivey has continued to pivot from any questions about her health.
Seeking a second full term, Ivey won the May GOP primary without a runoff. She faces political newcomer and Democrat Yolanda Flowers in November.
Last week was the deadline for political parties to replace candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.