Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was hospitalized after suffering a stroke Saturday afternoon while attending his son’s hockey game, his office announced Sunday.
The 53-year-old senator began experiencing numbness in his arm and was taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a stroke. He was subsequently transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for further monitoring.
“He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment,” Murphy’s chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said in a statement.
Chris Murphy’s chief says the 53-year-old Democratic senator had a stroke.
“Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game. He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke. He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment. The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.”
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“The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” she added.
Murphy is actually the fourth Senate Democrat to suffer a stroke in recent years. Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland both suffered strokes in 2022 and subsequently recovered. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also suffered a stroke that year while campaigning for office and now uses live-captioning technology to assist with auditory processing during Senate proceedings.
Murphy, who has represented Connecticut in the Senate since 2013, has emerged as a prominent Democratic voice on gun control and immigration. He is also considered a possible contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
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The senator has spent recent weeks campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections. He was scheduled to appear Sunday in New Hampshire alongside Democratic candidates Chris Pappas and Stefany Shaheen. Murphy is not on Tuesday’s ballot.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who campaigned alongside Murphy on Friday, said he and his wife were keeping the senator and his family in their prayers.
Lawmakers from both parties also expressed support, including Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Murphy’s office has not announced a timeline for his release from the hospital.
