Senator Edward Markey has defeated representative Joe Kennedy III in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, harnessing support from progressive leaders to overcome a challenge from a younger rival who is a member of America’s most famous political family.
Markey appealed to voters in the deeply Democratic state by positioning himself as aligned with the liberal wing of the party. He teamed up with New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the Green New Deal, and at one point labeled Kennedy “a progressive in name only”.
That helped Markey overcome the enduring power of the Kennedy name in Massachusetts. The 39-year-old congressman sought to cast the 74-year-old Markey as out of touch after spending decades in Congress, first in the House before moving to the Senate.
In the waning weeks of the campaign, Kennedy leaned into his family’s long political legacy in Massachusetts. His pedigree includes former president John F Kennedy; former US Senator and US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy, his grandfather; and former US senator Edward Kennedy, who held a Senate seat in Massachusetts for nearly half a century until his death in 2009.
Markey countered by playing up his own family story – growing up in the working class city of Malden with a father who drove a truck for the Hood Milk company. In one campaign video, Markey also paraphrased a famous JFK quote, saying, “We asked what we could do for our country. We went out, we did it. With all due respect, it’s time to start asking what your country can do for you.”
Markey also found himself on the defense at times during the campaign, with Kennedy repeatedly trying to portray him as insensitive on issues of racial inequality. Kennedy faulted Markey for his initial opposition to the effort to desegregate the Boston Public Schools beginning in the 1970s.
Markey countered by noting that he changed his views on the contentious issue that tore at the fabric of the city.
Late in the race, Kennedy also landed a major endorsement when Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, formally backed his candidacy.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
