Joe Kennedy III: Ed Markey's supporters urge a congressman to give up their main candidacy



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If Congressman Joe Kennedy III was looking for support for a potential potential Senate challenge against his Democratic colleague Ed Markey, he does not seem to have found it at the Saturday Massachusetts Democratic convention.

He did not address the convention, even though he was there to lead a panel on the fight against racism. The journalists there asked him a timetable to decide he would put up an offer dislodge Markey. Kennedy said that he hoped to make a decision soon but pointed out that he had no timetable.

However, he also refuted any fears that this would be a bad time for a potentially expensive Senate candidacy, which could divert the attention of the 2020 presidential campaign.

"I do not see how an active and engaged race that allows a state-wide electorate to make an informed decision about who will represent them in the US Senate for the next six years is a bad thing," Kennedy said. "I think it's exactly what the process is designed to do."

While Kennedy was entering the convention center, Reverend Miniard Culpepper, senior pastor of Dorchester's Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren, spoke to him. Kennedy listened carefully to Culpepper for several minutes. Culpepper shared with CBS News the advice he had given the Massachusetts Congressman.

"I told Joe Kennedy that I thought he had to think about what was best to know if he should run or not, and I told him I was working with Ted Kennedy to his first presidential campaign and that I thought it was essential that he prays before that … does anything and seek the direction of the Lord, "said Culpepper.

He said that Kennedy had assured him that he would do just that and asked for prayers in return.

Culpepper also told CBS News that he thought the presidential campaign would be the center of attention and the main resources of the Democratic Party. He thinks that there will be a major battle for the Senate, so this kind of challenge in a safe seat in the Senate would be unproductive.

A recent poll conducted by Suffolk University and the Boston Globe revealed that Kennedy led Markey in a hypothetical five-way confrontation, ranging from 35% to 26%. But during the weekend party, the organizing base of the Democratic Party of Massachusetts showed its support.

Elections 2020 Democrats of Massachusetts
US Senator Edward Markey gestures to sympathizers at the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention on Saturday, September 14, 2019, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Jessica Hill / AP


Sue Rorke, a Kennedy constituent from Medham, Mass., Told CBS News that she supported Markey and did not understand why Kennedy was making fun of the race.

"I like Kennedy – there's nothing wrong with Kennedy," she said. "But he's trying to solve a problem that does not exist."

When asked if he was worried about a challenge launched by Kennedy, Markey told reporters that he was running his race focusing on issues that concerned him, as well as members of the state party.

Markey told reporters that he had not spoken to Kennedy yet, but "we'll talk about it soon".

Hank Sorrett, a member of the Sudbury Democratic City Committee, said support for Markey at the convention should deter Kennedy from getting into the race.

"You must have infantrymen and infantrymen who know how politics and the electoral process work, and I think you have seen where the infantrymen are heading."

Zachary Hudak contributed to this report.

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