Sen. Chris Murphy still hospitalized after stroke; office says he continues to respond to treatment

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., remained hospitalized Monday, Nov. 2, and was still responding well to treatment, his office told Newsweek.¹ That brief update was the newest word from his office that SignalData could find as of Monday afternoon.

What his office said Sunday

Allison Herwitt, Murphy’s chief of staff, disclosed the stroke in a statement Sunday, Nov. 1. She said Murphy “started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game” on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 31.²³

“He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke,” Herwitt said, according to The Associated Press. “He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment.”⁴ ABC News and Newsweek identified the second hospital as Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.⁵¹

“The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” Herwitt said.⁴⁵

Background

Murphy is 53.⁴ He was elected to the U.S. House in 2006 and to the Senate in 2012, the AP reported.⁴ ABC News reported that he won a third Senate term in 2024,⁵ and the AP and Newsweek reported that he is not on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 3.⁴¹

Before the stroke, Murphy had been campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the election and was scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire on Sunday, ABC News and The Connecticut Mirror reported.⁵³

State Senate leaders from both parties in Connecticut also responded, the Mirror reported Sunday. Majority Leader Bob Duff and President Pro Tem Martin Looney, both Democrats, said in a joint statement that they were “relieved.” Minority Leader Stephen Harding, a Republican, said, “We are encouraged to learn that Sen. Murphy is responding well to treatment and making progress.”³

What the records do not show

• The reports SignalData opened do not name the first hospital or give the type of stroke.⁴¹
• They give no discharge date. Newsweek reported that it is unclear how long he will stay in the hospital or when he might resume his Senate duties.¹
• The office’s words here come from news reports. A search of Murphy’s Senate website did not turn up the statement, and SignalData could not open that site’s press release list.
• ABC News reported that no further information on his condition had been released as of its Sunday report.⁵