Sen. Chris Murphy Is Hospitalized After a Stroke, His Office Says, and Is Expected to Recover
The Connecticut Democrat, 53, felt numbness in his arm at his son's hockey game on Saturday. He was transferred to Johns Hopkins, where his chief of staff says he is awake, alert and responding well to treatment.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut was hospitalized after suffering a stroke on Saturday, his office said on Sunday — a health scare that reached Washington two days before the midterm elections. Murphy, 53, began experiencing numbness in his arm while attending his son's hockey game on Saturday afternoon, his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said in a statement first reported by Politico and carried by Reuters. He was taken to a local hospital, where doctors discovered he had suffered a stroke.
Murphy was transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment, Herwitt said. The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and his office is optimistic he will make a full recovery. The statement did not say what type of stroke Murphy suffered or how long he is expected to remain hospitalized.
Murphy is not on Tuesday's ballot — he won a third Senate term in 2024 — but he has been one of his party's most visible national figures through the midterm cycle, a leading voice on immigration and gun policy who serves on the Appropriations Committee, and he had been traveling as a campaign surrogate for Democratic candidates in the closing weeks. His seat is not at stake on Tuesday; what is at stake is the Senate's working margin in the months ahead, in a chamber where a single prolonged absence changes what can pass. His office has given no timetable for his return.
