The Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary between incumbent Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy is tightening, but Kennedy is still leading a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll.
Kennedy leads Markey 42% to 36% in the survey. The same poll in September had Kennedy leading Markey 42% to 28%.
Markey managed to push his numbers up and slice through Kennedy’s lead, showing that the longtime legislator “has a record and a personal history that have appeal,” poll director David Paleologos said.
The poll, conducted between last Wednesday and Saturday, was based on live telephone interviews of 500 registered Massachusetts voters who said that they will cast their ballots in Tuesday’s presidential Democratic primary contest.
Kennedy, 38, launched his Senate campaign against Markey, 73, just five months ago in anticipation of the Sept. 1 Senate primary.
Kennedy, whose family name has long been politically associated with the Bay State, won his House seat, previously occupied by Democrat Barney Frank, in 2012.
[Previous coverage: ‘Brand is not what it used to be’: Kennedys brace for 2020 election tests]
Markey and Kennedy have yet to come to blows, but Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf lamented what he sees as a likely dirty upcoming primary battle.
“Ugly is the word. Kennedys rarely surrender ambition,” Sheinkopf told the Washington Examiner. “Generational ageist attacks are likely to dominate social media chatter. Ugh.”
Markey has been a member of Congress since 1976 when he first ran for Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District. He defeated Republican incumbent Richard Daly in a blowout, carrying 77% of the vote. Markey stayed in the House for 19 terms.
In 2013, he won the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry after President Barack Obama appointed Kerry to be his secretary of state.
Kennedy has out-raised Markey by $1 million in the final quarter of 2019 and has an additional $1 million cash on hand. However, those supporting Markey’s campaign are looking to create a super PAC to compete financially. According to the Boston Globe, the PAC would focus on environmental issues.
