Chris Murphy: ‘I’m walking across the state of Connecticut’

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is letting his feet do the talking — and the walking — as he attempts to venture across his entire state on foot.

“I’m walking across the state of Connecticut,” Murphy told ITK Friday via phone as he made the trek. “It’s about 125 miles, which means I have to cover about 20 to 30 miles a day.”

The 43-year-old lawmaker says he remembers reading about similar endeavors by former Democratic Sens. Lawton Chiles (Fla.) — dubbed “Walkin’ Lawton” during his more than 1,000-mile journey across the Sunshine State in 1970 — and Bill Bradley (N.J.).

{mosads}“I’m doing it because I don’t think you can do this job well by just sitting in your office and waiting for people to contact you,” Murphy says.

Despite being a runner who will often go on eight- or 10-mile jogs on the weekend, Murphy says, “There’s nothing that can prepare you for walking 60 miles in two days. My legs have really been hurting for most of the afternoon.”

And since starting the walk on Monday, he’s faced a few political roadblocks, too.

“You don’t pick the people you’re talking to, so I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve disagreed with me, and those conversations have been some of the most fun. I’ve seen a lot of Trump supporters, seen a lot of Second Amendment supporters. That’s what’s kept me on my toes.”

When we inquired about what’s tougher physically, his walk across Connecticut or the nearly 15-hour filibuster he led in June calling for gun control reform, Murphy replied, “This is harder because it’s, physically, it’s the equivalent of a walking filibuster, six days in a row.”

“And this time I don’t have [New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker] doing his sympathy walk alongside me,” Murphy says of his Democratic colleague. “At least in the Senate I had Cory standing and holding his bladder for as long as I was, in sympathy.”

Murphy, who doesn’t have any staffers accompanying him on the odyssey, is averaging about 24 miles each day and expects to finish up his journey this weekend. “My legs are very upset with me, but I think I’m on the home stretch,” he says.

But he says he’s not exactly going to put his feet up and relax when he’s done with his long haul — Murphy and his wife are hosting 300 people at their house for a Labor Day picnic on Sunday.

“The deal was, that if I did this walk, I still had to get the house ready for the picnic,” Murphy laments. “So, no, I don’t think there’s going to be much rest.”