Joe Kennedy’s Defeat Casts Potential End of an American Political Dynasty

BOSTON, KOMPAS.com – Ed Markey defeated Congressman Joe Kennedy in the Massachusetts Primary Tuesday bringing a potential end to an American political dynasty.

Joseph Kennedy III, the grandnephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy, ran a campaign for a US Senate seat which he eventually lost.

His defeat marked the first time the storied American political dynasty lost a state election in the state.

Joe Kennedy’s opponent Ed Markey is a political veteran who built an image as the fiery liberal in the race.

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Harnessing the state’s progressive energy, Ed Markey successfully beat out the primary challenger of the Massachusetts Primary.

The 39-year-old Kennedy said he called Markey "to congratulate him and to pledge my support" in the months ahead.

With votes still being counted, Markey was leading around 55 percent to 44 percent.

The race pitted two well-liked progressives against each another, but it was Markey's organizational energy and appeal to the ascendant left that won out over Kennedy.

"Tonight is more than just a celebration of an election, it is a celebration of a movement," Markey wrote on Twitter.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a figurehead of the party's progressive wing, congratulated Markey on the win.

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"Yours is a victory for the progressive movement, for 21st-century policy, and for the Green New Deal," she wrote on Twitter.

The Green New Deal, an economic plan to tackle climate change, was co-authored by Markey and Ocasio-Cortez.

Since he is not allowed to be on the ballot as a candidate for both the House and Senate, Kennedy is not running for re-election to his House seat.