Markey defeats Kennedy in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts


Incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey defeated U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. With 82% of the precincts reporting, Markey had received 55.6% of the vote to Kennedy’s 44.5%.

Markey served in the U.S. House from 1976 until he was elected to the Senate in a 2013 special election after John Kerry was confirmed as Secretary of State. Markey went on to win a full term in 2014. Throughout the campaign, he highlighted his legislative record such as his co-sponsorship of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Medicare for All bill and co-authorship of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) Green New Deal.

Markey received endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Working Families Party.

Markey will face Kevin O’Connor (R) in the general election. Markey was most recently re-elected in 2014 with 59% of the vote. The most recent time Massachusetts elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate was 2010 when Scott Brown (R) won a special election with 52% of the vote.