Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his office said Sunday. Murphy's chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said the 53-year-old senator is expected to make a full recovery.
In a statement, Herwitt said Murphy began experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son's hockey game. He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke, and was then transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring. Herwitt said Murphy is responding well to treatment.
Murphy is a prominent figure in the Democratic Party and has been a prolific campaign surrogate for candidates through the midterm cycle. He is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential contender and has carved out a role as a foreign policy leader and a champion of aggressive executive branch oversight.
He recently returned from a multistop tour in the Middle East. After the trip, he warned that President Trump would dramatically escalate his war on Iran after the midterm election.
Murphy is the latest lawmaker to face a health crisis this year. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., missed months of Senate work during a lengthy hospital stay and rehabilitation process, and Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., was absent from the Capitol for months for treatment he later announced was for depression.
In 2022, three prominent Democratic lawmakers — Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and then-Senate candidate John Fetterman — were all hospitalized for strokes.
Sources: NPR News.