Chris Murphy, the Democratic US senator from Connecticut, has been hospitalized following a stroke, his chief of staff said. The 53-year-old senator was attending his son’s hockey game on Saturday when he began experiencing numbness in an arm, prompting a hospital visit that confirmed the stroke.
Murphy was subsequently transferred to Johns Hopkins to be monitored, according to a statement from his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt. She said he was responding well to treatment and described his doctors as encouraged by the progress he had made.
“He is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” Herwitt said in the statement. Her account offered an encouraging assessment of Murphy’s condition while he remained hospitalized for monitoring after the stroke.
The hospitalization followed several weeks in which Murphy had been campaigning ahead of the midterm elections. He had traveled to states including Michigan and Florida to support candidates facing competitive races, taking part in efforts to bolster their campaigns as the election approached.
Connecticut’s lieutenant governor, Susan Bysiewicz, said she had been with Murphy on Friday evening, when he was enthusiastically urging voters to take part in the upcoming election. In a statement, she welcomed the news that he was doing well and said she looked forward to their continued work together on behalf of Connecticut residents.
Murphy was first elected to Congress in 2006 and has since become a prominent figure in the Senate. Following the Sandy Hook school shooting, he emerged as one of the chamber’s most outspoken advocates for gun reform, an issue that has helped define his political profile.
His forceful opposition to Donald Trump has also led some observers to consider him a potential presidential contender in 2028. When the Guardian asked him in a 2025 interview whether he would consider running for the White House, Murphy emphasized his concern about the future of democracy.
In that interview, Murphy said his voice carried weight because his purpose was to protect democracy. He argued that thinking about either the 2026 or 2028 elections was premature and expressed concern about the prospects for a free and fair presidential election in 2028, urging that efforts be concentrated on preserving democracy.
