Around New England

Dukakis Backs Markey in U.S. Senate Race Over Joe III

January 30, 2020

Ed Markey landed an endorsement from a well-known former governor of Massachusetts in his U.S. Senate re-election bid.

The Ed Markey for Senate YouTube channel uploaded a video of former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty on Tuesday, January 28 announcing their support for the Massachusetts Democrat in the primary. Markey is being challenged in the Democratic primary by U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-Newton).

“The Green New Deal movement is not only so important to the future of the planet, but it has encouraged thousands … of young people to get into this. And he is largely responsible for that. I’m very proud of him for that,” Mike Dukakis said of Markey. “But he is also somebody who cares very deeply about this state and what it is and who its people are. It’s down at the grassroots where change takes place and so we hope that folks that share our feelings about this election and about Ed in particular will get deeply active and involved. We’re here to tell you it does make a difference.”

Dukakis, 86, served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1990. He was the 1988 Democratic nominee for president, losing to George H.W. Bush that year.

In a September 2019 Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll, Kennedy led Markey in a head-to-head match 42 percent to 28 percent.