Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was watching his son play hockey when a sudden loss of feeling in his arm led to an emergency hospital visit

53-year-old Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy took a break from the campaign trail on Saturday, October 31, 2026, to watch his son’s hockey game. While there, he experienced numbness in his arm, which led to an emergency hospital visit.

According to AP News, Murphy’s chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said in a statement, “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. The doctors are encouraged by his progress; he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.”

Murphy’s office reportedly told Newsweek on Monday, November 2, that the senator was still hospitalized but responding well to treatment. However, it is unclear how long he might remain in the hospital or when he might be back to work in the Senate.

Sen. Murphy wasn’t on the ballot in the midterms

Sen. Murphy was first elected to the House in 2006 before moving on to the Senate in 2012. There, he has become one of the leading voices on gun policy and immigration and serves on the Appropriations Committee. Earlier this year, he shut down funding requests for the Iran War.

Though he wasn’t on the ballot for the November 3 elections, he was still on the campaign trail for other Democratic candidates. Last week, he was in Minnesota lending himself to Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign, while the day before his stroke he mentioned he had been campaigning for Governor Ned Lamont in Connecticut. Before he was hospitalized, Murphy was supposed to join Democratic Representative Chris Pappas, who is on the trail for a Senate campaign, in New Hampshire on Sunday.

Fellow Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal reportedly said in a statement, “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.”

Murphy isn’t the only senator to experience a stroke

Sen. Murphy isn’t the only sitting senator to experience a stroke. In 2022, both Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico experienced strokes, but eventually recovered. That same year, John Fetterman suffered a stroke while on the campaign trail. He went on to win the seat and speak out about the effects the incident had on his health.

Other senators have experienced health-related incidents this year, as well. Both Sen. Tom Kean Jr. and Sen. Mitch McConnell disappeared for several months due to health issues (a reported fall in Sen. McConnell’s case and a depression diagnosis in Sen. Kean’s). Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsay Graham unexpectedly passed away in the summer of 2026 from an aortic dissection.

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