Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley Had Cataract Surgery the Day Before Fatal

A 70-year-old Wisconsin state senator drove her vehicle into the path of an oncoming vehicle on Friday, killing its occupants—a Pennsylvania mother and her young daughter, according to Ashland authorities.

State Sen. Janet Bewley pulled out of the entrance to a Lake Superior beach around midday, police said, colliding with the car driven by 27-year-old Alyssa Ortman. The younger woman’s vehicle spun across the highway, hitting a third car.

Ortman’s 5-year-old daughter was pronounced dead at the scene. Ortman was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died of her injuries.

Bewley, a Democrat who has served as the state Senate’s minority leader since 2020, was “not seriously injured” in the crash, her office said in a statement released Monday morning. Her involvement in the incident was first reported by KBJR-TV.

“This is a heartbreaking event for the community,” the statement read. “Our thoughts and prayers are focused on the individuals involved, their families and their loved ones.”

In a prearranged Friday afternoon interview with a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel intern, Bewley said she had undergone cataract eye surgery on Thursday. She fell silent a few minutes later, pausing abruptly in the middle of a sentence.

The intern asked if she was OK, the newspaper reported.

“Yeah, I’m OK,” she replied. “This is not a good accident.”

When The Daily Beast emailed a request for comment on the Journal Sentinel’s report to Bewley’s office, her spokesperson sent back the original Monday morning statement.

“A police investigation is ongoing,” it said. “Out of respect for that investigation and the privacy of all the families involved, our office will be withholding further comment at this time.”

The statement did not address the newspaper’s claims, which were published hours later.

Bill Hagstrom, the chief of the city’s police department, told the Ashland Daily Press that no charges had yet been filed against anyone involved in the incident.

“There’s nothing suspected as far as alcohol or foul play or anything,” he said.

Bewley, who was elected to the Wisconsin Senate in 2014, announced in February that she would not seek re-election, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.