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Kirwan, a Republican whose 100th Assembly District includes the towns of Lloyd, Marlborough and Shawangunk in Ulster County, the town and city of Newburgh in Orange County, and the cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon in Dutchess County, complained of dizziness at his Newburgh home on Thursday and was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Newburgh The procedure was performed by surgeons at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City on Monday.
"Doctors said it was routine. Everything came out all right, thank God," said Verna Kirwan, his wife of 45 years.
Turning 75 a week from Thursday, Kirwan said he will seek re-election to his district.
"I feel fine," he said from the hospital where he is recuperating. "I felt a little sluggish, tired before. I actually passed out at the house in April. Doctors say I should have a lot more energy now."
Kirwan said he did not have a heart attack. He expects to return home today.
Kirwan, a retired state police lieutenant, suffered a major heart attack in 1992 while involved in a Republican primary against former Ulster County Legislature Chairman Daniel Alfonso, R-Highland. "Losing that one wasn't such a heart-breaker. I had other priorities," he said.
Kirwan lost his first race for Assembly against incumbent Democrat Larry Bennett in 1990 and again in 1992. He was elected to the first of seven terms in 1994 after Bennett retired.
An outspoken conservative, Kirwan is pro-life and pro-capital punishment. Kirwan and other conservative Republicans are credited with convincing Republican Gov. George Pataki to support the STAR program of property tax rebates to home owners in the late 1990s.
