Markey, Kennedy debate for Massachusetts’ seat in United States Senate
Senator Ed Markey and Representative Joe Kennedy participated in the first debate of the Senate election season Tuesday night.
The candidates are similar in nature, both running in the Democratic Senate primary and currently representing Massachusetts in Congress. Their main focus in Tuesday’s debate was their respective strategies for taking on President Donald Trump’s legislature in coming years.
Senator Ed Markey and Representative Joe Kennedy know that Massachusetts isn’t a swing state. They didn’t spend the debate convincing people to vote Democratic in the election. Instead, they focused on selling their own ideas.
Markey, the incumbent, emphasized his intent to continue efforts, including gun reform, Alzheimer’s research and initiatives surrounding the Green New Deal. But Kennedy is looking to take that a step further and represent all the new, progressive ideas coming from the state. He mentioned the value of the winner’s vote in the Senate, but stressed that just voting Democratic is insufficient.
Instead, Kennedy said, the elected would need to do everything possible to counteract Trump legislation.
But it’s a close race. Markey has a reliable track record in the Senate and his views are ultimately not much different from Kennedy’s. Both candidates agree on big-ticket ideas: counteracting climate change, expanding housing opportunities and dismantling systemic racism within the government.
Markey’s advantage among young voters is his commitment to climate change, whereas Kennedy’s familial links to Ted and John F. Kennedy appeal to older generations. And Kennedy is popular with labor unions and L.G.B.T.Q.+ voters, too.
But it will be a challenge for Kennedy to clinch the vote when Markey is already making similar moves, experts say. Either candidate could win.
Experts say whoever wins the primary on September 1, 2020, is likely to win the election, since Massachusetts is inherently Democratic; it’s unlikely the nominee will face significant competition. Until then, Kennedy and Markey will continue to campaign, debate and demonstrate their individual strategies for resisting the Trump administration.
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