Joe P. Kennedy III, First From Political Family to Lose a Race in Massachusetts
Incumbent Ed Markey’s recent push to the progressive side of the party helped push him over the line.
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III became the first person in his famous political to lose a race in Massachusetts.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Ed Markey defeated Kennedy in the Senate primary on Tuesday night.
Kennedy called Markey to concede defeat when he was down by 10 points.
Markey has served 43 years in Congress. This latest victory shows that younger is not necessarily the key to winning:
The incumbent was able to forge a coalition of younger and more liberal Democrats, the sort of voters who once formed the core of the Kennedy base.
By winning renomination in a generational clash — and the marquee Democratic Senate primary of the year — Mr. Markey, 74, proved that the ascendant left is not eager to simply throw out long-serving incumbents in favor of younger rivals, such as the 39-year-old Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Markey, who was first elected to Congress in 1976, was able to outflank Mr. Kennedy with progressives, leaving the heir of Massachusetts’s most storied political dynasty little opening.
Markey’s victory could also provide a glimpse into what the Democratic Party faces if the party wins the White House and Congress in November.
The party is moving to the far-left. Look at Markey, who has never had a reputation as a progressive until recently because of a certain congresswoman:
He has taken a leadership role on issues related to the environment and technology, however, and that linked him to perhaps his most important supporter: Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Their joint authorship of the Green New Deal offered Mr. Markey access not only to her endorsement but also entree to a new generation of environmental activists. He captured the early support of the Sunrise Movement and built a strong coalition among young progressives.
“If we’re going to have a planet for people in my generation to live on, we need someone like Senator Markey,” said Lindsay Aldworth, 29, who was active with the Sunrise Movement in college and attended a rally for Mr. Markey in New Bedford, Mass., last week.
Kennedy tried to make the race about him and not his family, which ended abruptly later in the race when he added his grandfather Robert Kennedy and great-uncles to his mailers and TV ads.
The Kennedy name still means something to older people in Massachusetts across racial lines, but not so much to the younger generation.
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Comments
Seems a clue where every liberal will have to head.
The Holyoke Homosexual went there, but it didn’t help him.
This time.
He’ll try again in 2022. Now he’ll go back to his city hall office, continue to get a paycheck, continue to do an incompetent job, making a mess of things play-acting like he knows what he’s doing. And he’ll use his paycheck to plot out the 2022 attempt.
All employers tolerate this, right?
Pursuing his students on Grinder while an adjunct at UMass sunk what little chance the mayor had.
Among others the HH thanked “my husband” as he conceded to Neal. Hitting on other Grindr “clients” and pressuring students to join the HH for some mischief must be part of their phony marriage “vows.”
When you can’t get a job because you’re essentially unemployable, you run Congress.
Bernie Sanders showed the way.
Maybe it’s because he’s NOT an alcoholic, womanizing, murderer. Say what you want, voters want a candidate who lives on the edge.
Are you saying that if he gets drunk, drives off a bridge, leaves an intern to die, he can run for senate?
He’ll need to do a lot more than that to get rid of an Indian wannabe.
Maybe this is the end of the Kennedy curse too. Or is that the Kennedy purse.
Maybe it’s the beginning of a new Kennedy curse, one where Massachusetts voters won’t vote for them, and in fact vote against them. Wouldn’t that be cool.
Nothing keeping that foul fiend Markey in office can be considered cool.
It’s like the inverse Curse of the Bambino, and it’s way overdue.
He is the first one to crash and burn w/o a plane.
I keep seeing these rags in the store that say JFK Jr. is still alive and faked his death.
At least that fake news has me laughing and not cursing.
JohnJohn killed two innocent women and ruined a perfectly good airplane.
Those Kennedy’s are competitive… he wanted to best Uncle Teddy.
Is there anything to the rumor JohnJohn was about to close the deal on a fully restored Oldsmobile sedan?
Cannot believe that Moron Markey won. He voted against the USMCA which earmarked $$Millions for the Conley Terminal at Massport. Massport is going through a $Billion expansion which will add jobs and news business to the Boston area.
Markey voted against his own people and still won the election.
No more Bushes, no more Clintons, no more Kennedys – and HELL NO to more Obamas.
Enough with the political dynasties.
Have either of the dsughters expressed political aspirations?
I meant the Obama girls.
Let them joined the Habsburgs, Hohezollerns, and Romanovs in the junk yard of history.
Either way, Massachusetts was going to send either a Schitt Sandwich or a Turd Taco to the Senate for the next 6 years
Yup, like picking your form of execution.
I think I read that this will be the first year since 1947 that a Kennedy hasn’t held a political office representing MA in one form or another.
Remarkable.
Even long-term disease eventually subsides.
Sadly, we have some leftover Bush family human trash here in Texas. I despise the any dynastic family of either party. Always arrogant and provide zero value to America. Bush is about as Texan as Obama is an example of black masculinity.
George and George were about the only ones to adopt the Texas drawl if memory serves me correctly.
Our long national nightmare is over!
His family has already started calling him Jeb.
America needs No more Kennedys,Clintons,Bushs Ever.
As awful a US Senator as Markey is, it is great that the election pool of Kennedys is emptied. At least for now!