Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Thursday got a call from President Barack Obama.
Kirk tweeted Thursday, "Thanks to President Obama @whitehouse for calling this morning. Appreciate his well wishes."
The Daily Herald notes that, according to Kirk's staff, the president previously reached out to the senator via a letter but Thursday marked the first phone call Kirk has received from Obama since the serious stroke he suffered in January.
Kirk, elected to President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat in the fall of 2010, left rehab and returned to his Highland Park, Ill. home earlier this month. A video released in May showed that Kirk, 52, is well on his way to recovery and is working to regain his ability to walk and speak normally. Friends and colleagues of Kirk say the senator continues to have his eye on a return to being an active member of the U.S. Senate.
Earlier this week, a report emerged that Kimberly Vertolli, Kirk's ex-wife, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the senator may have illegally hidden campaign payments to a consultant, his then-live-in girlfriend. Kirk's campaign called the complaint "groundless" and based in "bitter personal attacks."