Key takeaways:
- Murphy experienced arm numbness at his son’s hockey game Saturday and was diagnosed with a stroke at a local hospital.
- He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for monitoring; his chief of staff said doctors are encouraged by his progress.
- The Connecticut Democrat was scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire with Senate nominee Chris Pappas on Sunday.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut was hospitalized after suffering a stroke Saturday while attending his son’s hockey game, his office said Sunday. The 53-year-old Democrat is awake and alert, and doctors are encouraged by his response to treatment, according to his chief of staff.
“Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game,” chief of staff Allison Herwitt said in a statement. “He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke.”
Murphy was then transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring, Herwitt said. “The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.” His office did not provide further details about the stroke or say how long he might remain hospitalized.
Murphy was scheduled to campaign Sunday in New Hampshire alongside Rep. Chris Pappas, the Democratic nominee for Senate there, NBC News reported. Neither account said whether that appearance would go ahead. Murphy is not up for re-election this year, but he has traveled around the country on behalf of Democratic candidates.
The Connecticut senator has served in the Senate since 2013, following three years in the House, according to CBS News. CBS News also reported that Murphy has been viewed as a possible contender for the White House in 2028. In recent weeks, he has campaigned for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
An outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, Murphy spoke Thursday at a Middle East Institute event in Washington. There, he called Trump’s plan to potentially resume the war with Iran after the midterms “insane,” NBC News reported.
NBC News also reported that Murphy’s office was among more than a dozen lawmakers’ offices that received letters containing suspicious substances earlier this fall. The accounts of his hospitalization did not link those letters to his stroke.
Herwitt’s statement offered no timeline for Murphy’s return to work or campaigning. For now, she said, he remains at Johns Hopkins for monitoring and is responding well to treatment.
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