US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been hospitalised after suffering a stroke on Saturday, with his team saying he is awake, alert, and responding well to treatment.
Murphy began experiencing numbness in his arm while attending his son’s hockey game, according to a statement released on Sunday by his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt.
“He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke,” she said.
“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.”
The 53-year-old was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 before winning a seat in the Senate in 2012.
Although he is not seeking re-election this year, Murphy has been travelling across the country to support Democratic candidates contesting various political offices.
He was expected to visit New Hampshire to campaign alongside Representative Chris Pappas, the Democratic Senate nominee in the state.
Murphy’s hospitalisation comes after three other Democratic senators experienced strokes in recent years. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland suffered strokes in 2022 and have since recovered.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman also had a stroke while campaigning for his Senate seat in the same year. Reacting to Murphy’s condition on Sunday, Fetterman wrote on social media that he was “rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery.”
Several Republican senators, among them Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, also offered prayers and messages of support.
President Donald Trump said he was “really surprised” to hear about Murphy’s stroke, adding, “Nobody wants to have that.”
Murphy has been a vocal critic of Trump. At an event organised by the Middle East Institute in Washington on Thursday, he described the president’s plan to potentially resume the war with Iran after the midterm elections as “insane.”
Earlier in the autumn, Murphy was also among more than a dozen lawmakers whose offices received letters containing suspicious substances.
