Sen. Chris Murphy hospitalized following stroke

Washington — Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut was hospitalized on Saturday after experiencing a stroke, his office said. 

"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," Murphy's chief of staff Allison Herwitt said in a statement on Sunday. 

Herwitt said Murphy 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," she added. 

Murphy, 53, has represented Connecticut in the Senate since 2013, after serving three years in the House. The Connecticut Democrat has been viewed as a possible 2028 White House contender, and has crisscrossed the country in recent weeks propping up Democrats in the midterm elections.