HARTFORD — Democrat Chris Murphy was elected to the US Senate Tuesday in a bruising match against pro wrestling magnate Linda ­McMahon, who outspent him many times over with more than $42 million of her own money from a fortune built on headlocks and body slams.

Murphy, 39, a three-term congressman from northwestern Connecticut, will succeed Senator Joe Lieberman, an ­independent who caucuses with the Democrats and is retiring.