Joe K3 aims for Markey’s seat
Source says rep planning Saturday announcement
Joseph Kennedy III is in — a source close to the U.S. Rep. says the latest member of the storied political dynasty to serve in Congress will announce his primary challenge to elder statesmen U.S. Sen. Edward Markey on Saturday.
After weeks spent testing the waters, Kennedy is expected to make his Senate run official at an East Boston Social Centers breakfast with supporters and the local community Saturday morning, the source said. He will then tour the state in the ensuing few days.
Kennedy’s entrance into the race could upend Massachusetts politics and divide the party. The split was already on display among activists at last weekend’s state Democratic convention, some of whom supported a fresh face in the seat while others said Kennedy, 38, should wait his turn and back down from challenging Markey, 73, whom was widely praised for his cosponsoring of the Green New Deal.
“It’s game on,” Democratic strategist Scott Ferson said.
Kennedy and Markey spoke Wednesday, according to Markey’s campaign, which released a statement saying, “Elections are about choices, and Ed looks forward to spending the next 14 months campaigning hard every day.”
Kennedy will announce while riding a wave of favorable polling that puts him significantly ahead of his veteran opponent as he seeks to reclaim his family’s Senate mantle.
“Kennedy name recognition is going to beat a guy named Markey just any day,” Ferson said. “But people will clearly know Ed Markey and what he’s done by the time we get to next September.”
Markey, who’s spent four decades in Congress, has been staffing up and pushing out endorsements from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), his Green New Deal co-sponsor. He put on a show of force at the state Democratic convention, with campaign volunteers rushing the stage — as instructed in an email obtained by the Herald — as he delivered a rousing keynote emphasizing his workingclass roots.
Kennedy acknowledged at a post-convention meetand-greet his challenge could “put some folks in an awkward spot” — including Warren, for whom he’s done surrogate work.
But he told reporters, “I don’t think primaries are something people should shy away from.”
Two others are already in the race — business executive Steve Pemberton and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan.
Kennedy’s Senate bid also opens up the 4th Congressional District, for which Ihssane Lecky has already announced.