WASHINGTON _ Rep. Joe Kennedy formally announced a challenge to Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey in next year's Democratic primary, setting up a blockbuster battle between an heir to an American political dynasty and an incumbent now in his fifth decade in Congress.
At a Saturday news conference at the East Boston Social Center, Kennedy said he wants to remove significant barriers to success for people, adding, "I'm running for the U.S. Senate to tear that down, to fight back with everything we've got." He also reflected on his family, which arrived in America as struggling immigrants from Ireland and went on to produce a president, three U.S. senators and members of Congress.
"If you have a country as good as the people it serves, nothing will get in the way of what we can do."
The fight for the seat Markey has held since 2013 is likely to spark a costly contest with a generational edge; Kennedy, 38, wasn't alive when Markey, 73, was elected to the U.S. House in 1973. The battle pitting two big-name progressives comes as the party also is trying to navigate other potential primaries pitting party moderates and progressives against one another.
Kennedy announced his bid after recent polling showed him well ahead of the incumbent. He led Markey 42%-28% in a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll conducted earlier this month in a state where the Kennedys have held sway for decades.
Two Democrats are already in the race _ business executive Steve Pemberton and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. Kennedy clearly saw signs of weakness for Markey and saw no need to wait for a later Markey retirement, said political analyst Kyle Kondik.
"He has arguably the most famous political name in America and certainly in Massachusetts," said Kondik, managing editor of Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia. "Kennedy has proven himself in the House to the extent a non-leadership person could do that. I just think he believes this is his time and that Markey is vulnerable."
Republicans have a 53-47 seat majority in the Senate, and the Massachusetts seat is all but certain to stay in Democratic control regardless of which candidate wins. Democratic Party leaders have lined up behind Markey, although it's unlikely the party will invest much in the race.
Markey has already locked up some early endorsements, including Massachusetts' senior senator, Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Markey told reporters this week that he is confident he will prevail in next September's primary, and that he'd focus on climate change, gun safety and income inequality among other issues.
"I'm going to run on all the issues that I believe in," he said.
Kennedy, the grandson of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, is the only remaining Kennedy in Congress after his cousin, Patrick Kennedy, retired from the House in 2011. Elected to his fourth term in 2018, Kennedy has made expanded health care access a top issue.
Markey has highlighted his partnership with Ocasio-Cortez in writing the Green New Deal resolution, which has become a centerpiece issue for many Democratic 2020 presidential contenders. In advance of Kennedy's announcement, Markey's campaign released a video in which he invited all the Democratic Senate contenders to debate climate change next month.
Markey has long been associated with the fight to reduce carbon emissions, dating to his time in the House where he co-wrote the sweeping Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. That measure passed the House in 2009 but failed to get support in the Senate.
Markey, who was in the U.S. House from 1976 to 2013, also has centered on consumer rights, especially in cable, the internet and other technology industries.
The race already is forcing close allies of both lawmakers to take sides.
While Warren has endorsed Markey, she and Kennedy have a long history. Kennedy met his wife, Lauren, in a class taught by Warren when she was a professor at Harvard Law School, and she was elected to the Senate the same year he was elevated to the House. Kennedy introduced Warren before she gave an address at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
