Senate race ‘down to the wire’
Markey, Kennedy III to face off Monday in debate
The spotlight was just swinging back onto the race between U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III when the coronavirus hit.
Nearly three months and a statewide shutdown later, the incumbent senator and his U.S. rep challenger will face off at 7 p.m. Monday in their first debate since February as they attempt to draw attention back to a marquee showdown now playing out against the backdrop of a pandemic.
Kennedy’s early polling lead has largely evaporated now. The debate calendar has been truncated. The days of flesh-pressing and baby kissing are gone — and neither campaign thinks they’ll be back before the Sept. 1 primary.
But the candidates’ struggles to differentiate on the issues remain, strategists say. And with less than 100 days until voters make up their minds, there’s no more time to play nice.
“We are in the middle of a nearly unprecedented global pandemic,” John Cluverius, a former political operative and UMass Lowell political science professor, said. “How do you grab people’s attention in that environment? The way you do that is to be petty and mean.”
The jabs have grown sharper recently. Kennedy slammed Markey in a WBZ interview by saying his “leadership has not been present or effective” in cities hardest-hit by the pandemic. Markey, in a digital ad, accused Kennedy of
“playing politics with the coronavirus.”
Markey’s camp has hit Kennedy — who has more money and is up with a $1.2 million ad campaign — for trying to “buy” the Senate seat.
Allusions to Markey spending more time in Chevy Chase, Maryland, than in Malden have been made — and rebutted.
Strategists say the simmering slugfest will have to boil over soon. Recent polling shows Kennedy and Markey essentially in a dead heat. Cluverius said the pool of undecided voters is shrinking.
“We have always known this was going to be a tight race and we are confident Joe maintains an edge,” Kennedy spokeswoman Emily Kaufman said. “But we always intended to fight this race like it was going to be down to the wire.”
Monday’s debate in Springfield could prove a watershed moment — not unlike Democrat Elizabeth
Warren’s fiery bout against then-U.S. Sen. Scott Brown there in 2012, Democratic strategist Tony Cignoli said.
“This debate has the phenomenal potential for it to be more of a slugfest,” Cignoli said. “If this could be like Warren-Brown, it could be definitive.”
But the outcome of the Senate primary battle could hinge not on viral moments but on how the election is carried out. Officials are gearing up for a massive expansion of vote-by-mail — a scenario some strategists believe could benefit Kennedy by name recognition, while others say it could give Markey’s campaign organization the edge.
“This campaign is going to be in the margins,” strategist Wilnelia Rivera said. But “it’s still hard to beat a Kennedy in Massachusetts.”
The Markey campaign says it’s ready for the challenge, having run a “fire drill” to collect thousands of signatures to get the senator on the ballot.
“The polls are heading in the right direction, the operational part of the campaign is in the right direction. We have a candidate who can clearly articulate a positive reason to vote for him,” campaign manager John Walsh said. “At this moment, that’s a huge competitive advantage.”