Joe Kennedy Confirms He’ll Take on Sen. Ed Markey in 2020 Democratic Primary

Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts confirmed on
Saturday that he’ll run against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey in next year’s
Democratic state primary.

The first question that comes to mind is why? The short
answer, as Splinter’s Naomi LaChance pointed
out earlier this week, is because he’s a Kennedy.

Markey, 73, has served in public office in Washington since the
mid-1970s, first as a U.S. representative for Massachusetts’ 7th congressional
district, and then as a U.S. senator beginning in 2013.

Earlier this year, he and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced
the Green
New Deal resolution to address the threat of climate change by striving for
net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, among other goals.

“It’s a goal, a vision for what the country should try to
accomplish with a 10-year mobilization knowing that even then, more work will
have to be done,” Markey
told Vox’s David Roberts last April while explaining the resolution.

Markey also has sponsored or co-sponsored numerous pieces of legislation
in the more than four decades that he’s worked in Congress. Protecting the
environment and public health are two priority issues the senator has
addressed in the past, according to his website. Among his legislative efforts
is the 2008 Waxman-Markey climate bill, which passed
the House but not the Senate, as Vox noted.

Ocasio-Cortez, predictably,
is backing Markey in the upcoming primary challenge.

So is the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In a statement
published by Politico, DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss said, “Senator Markey
is an effective fighter for Massachusetts and a strong progressive leader in
the caucus on issues ranging from tackling climate change to ending gun
violence. The campaign’s broad and diverse coalition of supporters reflects his
record of delivering for Massachusetts in the Senate, and we’re proud to
support his re-election.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren also endorsed Markey last February,
and then reiterated her support last month in a video.

Kennedy, 38, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, appears to
have a big early edge over Markey in polling. A Suffolk
University/Boston Globe poll published earlier this month, before Kennedy’s
official announcement, showed Kennedy ahead of Markey by 14 percentage points
in a head-to-head matchup, at 42% vs. 28%. The poll had a margin of error of 4.4
percentage points.

One poll respondent said she prefers Kennedy after watching
him deliver the televised response
to last year’s State of the Union by Donald Trump. Part of Kennedy’s speech
was delivered in (badly
enunciated) Spanish, which drew enthusiastic applause and cheers from the
audience.

In terms of fundraising, the Boston Globe, citing
federal data, reported that Kennedy
slightly edges out Markey so far, with $4.2 million of cash on hand compared
to Markey’s $4.1 million.

Kennedy announced his bid on Saturday at a
breakfast in East Boston, before embarking on a three-day, statewide tour, according
to Politico.