Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., holds a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to demand that the Senate take action on gun safety Thursday, May 26, 2022, in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., appears at left.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, was hospitalized Saturday after suffering a stroke during his son’s hockey game, his office said Sunday.
Murphy is “awake and alert,” according to a statement from his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt.
“Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy began experiencing numbness in his arm while attending his son’s hockey game. He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered that he had suffered a stroke. He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment,” Herwitt said.
Johns Hopkins Hospital’s main campus is in Baltimore, although it has other locations in and around Washington.
“Doctors are encouraged by his progress,” Herwitt said. “We are optimistic that he will make a full recovery.”
Murphy, who came to the Senate in 2013, is not up for re-election Tuesday, but he has traveled the country campaigning for Democratic candidates, with recent stops in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida. He was scheduled to travel to New Hampshire on Sunday to campaign with Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas.
He is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate and is a prolific Democratic fundraiser.
Murphy, 53, spent six years in the House before running for the Senate. He gained national prominence as an advocate for stricter gun control laws following the Sandy Hook shootings in his home state. He has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and opposed the war in Iran and the White House’s deportation policies.
He is one of several sitting senators to suffer a stroke in recent years.
Democratic Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland each had a stroke in 2022. And Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who was then running for office, suffered a stroke just days before his state’s Democratic Senate primary.
“I’m thinking of my great friend and colleague, Chris Murphy. I know how hard he fights and I’m sure I’ll welcome him back to the Senate soon,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, another Connecticut Democrat, said on X on Sunday.
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