Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke on Saturday afternoon, his office announced on Sunday, saying the 53-year-old lawmaker is awake and alert at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Source: Reuters
Murphy began experiencing numbness in his arm while attending his son's hockey game on Saturday, his chief of staff Allison Herwitt said in a statement. He was taken to a local hospital, where doctors discovered he had experienced a stroke, and he was then transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring. 'The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,' Herwitt said.
What happened on Saturday afternoon
The first sign was numbness in his arm during the hockey game, according to his office. That symptom — sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg — is one of the classic warning signs of a stroke, and Murphy was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors confirmed he had suffered one. He was later moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, one of the country's best-known medical centres, for further monitoring, and his office said on Sunday that he is responding well to treatment. His office has not released further details about the severity of the stroke or how long he is expected to remain in hospital.
President Donald Trump, a frequent target of Murphy's criticism, told reporters as he arrived in Iowa on Sunday that he was 'surprised' by the news and would consider reaching out to the senator 'at the right time.' 'Certainly we don't like to hear a thing like that,' Trump said. 'I just heard about it inside, and he's a pretty young guy, so I was a little surprised to hear it. No, nobody wants to have that.'
Source: CNN
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his own 2022 Senate campaign, posted on X on Sunday that he hoped Murphy would enjoy 'a full and speedy recovery.' 'As someone who survived a near-fatal stroke, I understand all too well how much this impacts your life,' Fetterman wrote.
Well-wishes from Connecticut, two days before the midterms
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz released statements on Sunday regarding Murphy's hospitalization. Bysiewicz said she had been with Murphy on Friday night — barely a day before the stroke — and described him as energetic as he urged voters to take part in Tuesday's election. She said she was glad to hear he was doing well and looked forward to continuing their work together for the people of Connecticut. The health scare came just two days before the November 3 midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake.
A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is blocked or a blood vessel in the brain bleeds, and immediate treatment can reduce the risk of brain damage. Warning signs include sudden trouble speaking or understanding others; numbness, weakness or paralysis in the face, arm or leg; problems seeing in one or both eyes; a sudden headache; and trouble walking. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity and diabetes are leading risk factors, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as reported by CNN.
A leading voice on guns, health care and foreign policy
Murphy has served in the Senate since 2013, after representing Connecticut's 5th Congressional District in the House of Representatives; he first won election to Congress in 2006. He became a national voice on gun safety after the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook in his home state, and has championed affordable health care. More recently he has been a forceful critic of President Trump and a prominent voice in his party's foreign-policy debates, returning recently from a tour of the Middle East after which he warned that the president could sharply escalate military action against Iran once the midterms are over.
Murphy had spent the closing weeks of the midterm campaign travelling the country as a campaign surrogate for Democratic candidates, including stops in competitive states such as Michigan and Florida, and he was campaigning as recently as Friday evening. His profile has fuelled speculation that he could join a broad Democratic presidential primary field in 2028, talk he himself has previously played down, saying last year that his focus was on protecting democratic institutions rather than on any future election.
The latest in a series of health episodes in Congress
Murphy is the latest in a series of lawmakers to face a serious health episode this year: Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky missed months of Senate work during a long hospital stay and rehabilitation, and Republican Representative Tom Kean of New Jersey was absent from the Capitol for months before later disclosing he had been receiving treatment for depression. In 2022, three prominent Democrats were hospitalized after strokes — Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Fetterman, who went on to win his Pennsylvania race.
What happens next depends on Murphy's recovery. His office has offered no timetable for his return to Washington, and further updates are expected from his staff in the coming days. For now, his absence removes one of his party's most active campaigners from the trail in the final days before Tuesday's vote — while, by his own office's account, the early signs of his recovery are positive.