It is the first time that a Kennedy loses an election in Massachusetts: Joseph Kennedy III, grandnephew of President John F. Kennedy, admitted Tuesday evening his defeat in the Democratic primary for a post of senator of this State of New England, compromising the future of America’s most famous political dynasties.
Joseph Kennedy III, 39, conceded defeat, said one of his spokespersons, quoted by the Boston Globe. According to still partial results covering some 43% of the votes counted, he lost to outgoing senator Edward Markey, 74, by some 10 points.
Fallen “star”
This result, which the latest polls had anticipated, is bitter for Joseph Kennedy III, who in 2019 was considered a rising star of the Democratic Party. And initially seemed on track to dethrone Edward Markey, elected from Congress for 44 years, including seven in the Senate.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, Joseph Kennedy III, grandson of the former justice minister Robert Kennedy assassinated in 1968, nevertheless presented himself as closer to the field, to modest families and to minorities than his septuagenarian rival. – so many arguments that have allowed young “progressive” activists to dethrone Congress barons in several Democratic primaries since 2018.
Joseph Kennedy III, backed by Democratic leader in Congress Nancy Pelosi, made Edward Markey the classic criticism of spending too much time in Washington. But his attacks did not seriously affect his rival, especially as the positions of the two men seemed very close.
The family “has nothing to do with it”
Because Edward Markey was not one of those Democrats of the “establishment”, worried about the rise of the left wing of the Democratic Party, embodied by the New York elected representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On the contrary, he had drafted with her the ambitious plan of an environmentalist “New Deal”, and had obtained her support for this primary, just like that of another progressive figure, the other senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren.
The septuagenarian even reversed the argument, presenting the young Kennedy as embodying the privileges of a family synonymous with power since 1947. Joseph Kennedy III rejected these attacks. On Tuesday again, while he was campaigning shortly before the closing of the polling stations, he assured that he did not feel any pressure related to his last name and his prestigious ancestors.
“Whenever I ran, I always made it very clear that there was only me on the ballot […] My father, my grandfather, their brothers and sisters have nothing to do with it, it’s just me, ”he said.
One Kennedy can hide another
The result seems to finally prove that those who called his challenge to Edward Markey were futile. Many wondered why Kennedy was not content to continue his journey in the House of Representatives, while perhaps waiting for Elizabeth Warren’s chair to become vacant or to be able to run for governor of Massachusetts. Massachusetts being a Democratic stronghold, Edward Markey is now virtually guaranteed to be re-elected to the Senate in November.
