Kerry Senate seat now has contested primary: Stephen Lynch hat in ring

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a former ironworker, announced his campaign to succeed John Kerry in the Senate. He faces Rep. Edward Markey, the apparent front-runner, in a Democratic primary.

|
Charles Krupa/AP
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) of Massachusetts gestures while announcing his bid for the seat being vacated by John Kerry at Ironworkers Local 7 in Boston, Thursday.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a former union ironworker with South Boston roots, announced a campaign for the US Senate Thursday, setting up a contested Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by John Kerry.

Kerry, a longtime Democratic Senator, was confirmed by his peers this week to serve as President Obama's second-term secretary of State.

Edward Markey, the ranking US House member from Massachusetts, had already announced his intention to seek the seat Kerry has vacated.

Representative Markey, a liberal stalwart, is the apparent front-runner. Representative Lynch, with more than a decade under his belt in the House, is more of a political moderate – a stance that political analysts say hurts his chances in a primary election that hinges on winning support form party loyalists.

In a video and statement on his web site, Lynch kicked off his campaign by recalling his humble beginnings and 18 years as an ironworker, saying he’s spent his life “fighting for working families,” and emphasizing his support for Social Security and Medicare.

“I’ve gone from a kid in public housing, to the classrooms of Harvard, to the halls of Congress – and I never left my working class values behind,” read the statement, which also notes the campaign’s underdog status.

Many top Democrats in the state had hoped Markey would run uncontested for the party's nomination, saving financial resources and avoiding brand-tarnishing fights before the special election comes on June 25. Political pundits generally expect Scott Brown, the Republican recently ousted from the state's other Senate seat, to run and to make the race an interesting one.

Mr. Brown lost his most recent race to Elizabeth Warren in November, after a race that combined lots of money with neck-and-neck poll results for many months ahead of the vote.

Brown's entry into the race isn't a sure thing, however. He has remained on the sidelines so far, possibly to weigh his chances after the bruising loss in November. The Republican scores high in likeability with voters, but a message of 2012 is that even a popular and politically moderate Republican has a tough time winning in Massachusetts.

A contested primary could serve one useful purpose for Democrats, besides giving voters a choice of nominee. It could leave the winner more ready for the rough and tumble of the general election campaign.

The primary vote is scheduled for April 30. Until the June special election, the state is being represented by William “Mo” Cowan, a former aide to Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who was named to the interim post by the governor this week.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Kerry Senate seat now has contested primary: Stephen Lynch hat in ring
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Senate/2013/0131/Kerry-Senate-seat-now-has-contested-primary-Stephen-Lynch-hat-in-ring
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe