Chris Murphy’s health scare has come two days before Tuesday’s midterm elections, after the Connecticut senator had been campaigning for Democratic candidates around the country.
Murphy felt numbness in his arm while watching his son play hockey on Saturday. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a stroke, before being transferred to Johns Hopkins in Maryland for continued care.
His office said on Sunday that Murphy, a 53-year-old Democrat, had been hospitalised after suffering the stroke. Allison Herwitt, his chief of staff, said he is “awake and alert.” Doctors are encouraged by his progress, and his team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery.
Herwitt did not say what type of stroke Murphy suffered or how long he was expected to remain in hospital.
Before the medical emergency, Murphy had made recent visits to Michigan, Minnesota and Florida while campaigning for midterm candidates. He had been due to appear in New Hampshire on Sunday in support of Representative Chris Pappas’s race.
Murphy has two teenage sons with his former wife, Cathy Holahan, an attorney. The pair divorced in July, nearly two years after publicly disclosing their split.
Murphy was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and won a third term in 2024. He does not face re-election until 2030. He is also a prolific Democratic fundraiser, serves on the Appropriations Committee and is regarded as a possible candidate for the presidency in 2028.
He rose to national prominence as a gun-control advocate after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, then part of his House district. Murphy is also a leading voice on immigration and restrictions on guns.
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