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.
Mr. Kennedy, 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. This result, which the latest polls had anticipated, is bitter for those who passed in 2019 as a rising star of the Democratic Party. And initially seemed well on course to dethrone Mr. 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 which have enabled young activists “progressive»To dethrone congressional barons in several Democratic primaries since 2018.
Backed by Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, he made the classic criticism of Mr. Markey for 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. Because Mr. 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 drawn up with her the ambitious plan of “New DealEnvironmentalist, and had obtained his 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.
Family “has nothing to do with it»
Mr. Kennedy rejected these attacks. Again Tuesday, while he was campaigning shortly before the closing of the polling stations, he assured AFP that he would not feel any pressure related to his last name and his prestigious ancestors. “AT every time I ran, I always said very clearly that there was only me on the ballot (…) My father, my grandfather, their brothers and sisters have nothing to see in there, there is only me“, he said.
The result finally seems to prove that those who called his challenge to Mr. Markey were futile. Many wondered why he did not just continue his journey in the House of Representatives, until perhaps Ms. Warren’s chair is vacated or he can run for governor of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts being a Democratic stronghold, Mr. Markey is now virtually guaranteed to be re-elected to the Senate in November. Is this the end of the Kennedy political dynasty? It is not said: the recent Democratic convention has reignited speculation about the possibility that the grandson of the assassinated president, Jack Kennedy Schlossberg, will take up the torch.
The 27-year-old briefly appeared with his mother in a video calling to vote for Joe Biden saying, echoing a legendary line from his grandfather: “We can reach new frontiers, but only with a president who asks what he can do for our country».
Often asked about a possible political career, this young Harvard student, also very telegenic, has so far always refused to comment.
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