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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backs Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III in his main challenge to incumbent Senator Edward J. Markey, a boost to the challenger in what the polls suggest is a neck-and-neck race.
“Never before have times demanded that we elect courageous leaders like today, and that is why I am proud to endorse Joe Kennedy in the Senate,” said Pelosi, who has served more than a quarterback. century with Markey in the House, in a video announcing it. support for the 39-year-old challenger.
Pelosi credited Kennedy with helping to get the House through to Democrats in the 2018 midterm election by campaigning “across America,” and said Kennedy “knows that in order to achieve gradual change, you have to be at the forefront, at the head of population movements.
In a Kennedy campaign press release, Pelosi said, “Joe Kennedy represents the future of this Party. It will help Democrats move forward on the defining battles of our time.
Pelosi’s endorsement is both a boon to Kennedy and a snub from Markey, who was an ally of the California Democrat during his long term in the House. In 2007, during his first round as president, Pelosi chose Markey over several other prominent lawmakers to lead a select committee dedicated to energy and global warming issues, and then backed the 2009 climate legislation he co-ordinated. -written, bringing it to a vote on the Floor of the house.
The bill passed the House, but was a tough vote for many of the more centrist members of the Pelosi caucus. He died in the Senate.
Pelosi’s decision to embark on a contested Democratic Senate primary, particularly on the challenger’s side, is unusual.
Pelosi is generally a fierce advocate for the incumbent Democrats in the House, no matter where they are on the political spectrum. This year, for example, she campaigned for Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, who opposes abortion, narrowly helping him defeat a serious left-wing challenger backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren. Pelosi also endorsed two progressive members of the so-called Squad, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, on the main challengers.
While she seemed cool of Kennedy’s decision to challenge Markey when he first jumped in the race last year, Pelosi has clearly seen Kennedy as a rising star in the Democratic Party for some time.
In 2018, she called on him to deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s first State of the Union address.
Victoria McGrane can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @vgmac.
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