Sen. Chris Murphy, 53, is “awake and alert” after suffering a stroke on Saturday.
In a statement released Sunday, his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, wrote, “Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started 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.”
The Connecticut Democrat has no publicly known history of health problems.
“He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment. The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” Herwitt added.
Murphy, a potential 2028 White House candidate, has been campaigning for Democrats across the country, recently traveling to Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida.
The senator, who is not on the ballot Tuesday, was scheduled to attend an event in New Hampshire on Sunday.
Murphy joined the Senate in 2013 and has played a prominent role in shaping the party’s foreign policy positions.
He recently sounded the alarm on Trump’s “insane” plan to restart war with Iran after the midterms.
Murphy is one of several lawmakers to recently suffer a medical emergency.
Former Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suddenly died in July of an aortic dissection.
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, 84, was hospitalized after falling in his home, and did not publicly appear for more than three months earlier this year.
McConnell’s health issues appear to still be affecting him, as he frequently struggles during appearances, freezing at times and becoming incoherent.
New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr., 58, was also absent from Congress for months this year due to a battle with depression.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan were both hospitalized for strokes in 2022.
Well wishes for Murphy poured in from politicians on both sides of the aisle, including John Fetterman, 57, who had a stroke while campaigning to be senator in Pennsylvania.
“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,” Fetterman wrote on X. ”My family is rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery.”
Richard Blumenthal, Murphy’s fellow Connecticut senator, wrote Sunday, “Thinking of my great friend & colleague, Chris Murphy. I know how fiercely he fights & I’m certain I’ll be welcoming him back to the Senate soon.”
