Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, the senator's chief of staff said on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Murphy, 53, began experiencing numbness in his arm while attending his son's hockey game on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31, said Allison Herwitt, chief of staff to the Connecticut senator.
"He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke. He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment," she said in a statement.
"The doctors are encouraged by his progress," Herwitt continued. "He is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery."
A longtime politician, Murphy was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006
and then the U.S. Senate in 2012. He is not on the midterm election ballot.
Murphy serves on the Appropriations Committee and is one of the leading voices on immigration and federal gun control and bipartisan firearm safety legislation dating back to the Sandy Hook Elementary School fatal shootings.
Murphy's political colleagues sent well wishes.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said in a post on X that "Just two days ago, I was with Senator Chris Murphy doing what he loves most: encouraging Connecticut residents to make their voices heard and vote on Tuesday. There is no stronger advocate for our democracy, and no one who fights harder for the people of this state.
"Chris is a great friend to Connecticut and to me personally," Lamont added, "and Annie and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers. I am sure that he will be walking across the state again very soon, and we will all be cheering him on."
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, who suffered a stroke in 2022 while campaigning for his seat, offered his support to Murphy in a post on X as well.
"I’ve just heard the news about Senator Murphy. As someone who survived a near-fatal stroke, I understand all too well how much this impacts your life," said Fetterman, who now utilizes adaptive technology in the Senate, including live captioning on a phone or a tablet for transcription when having conversations with colleagues.
Fetterman said on social media Sunday that his family "is rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery."
This is a developing story that will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy hospitalized after stroke
