Markey racks up endorsements for Mass. Senate
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who announced yesterday that he would run for a soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts, received a series of key endorsements today that give him an enormous head start on the road for him to become the Democratic nominee in the 2013 special election.
The senator vacating the seat, John Kerry, whom President Obama chose to be his next Secretary of State, endorsed Markey's bid and praised the longtime congressman as "one of the most experienced and capable legislators in the entire Congress."
"As a colleague of Ed Markey's for 28 years, I'm excited to learn of and support his decision to run for the United States Senate," Kerry said in a statement. "It would be an almost unprecedented occasion for such an accomplished legislator to join the Senate able to hit the ground running on every issue of importance to Massachusetts."
Kerry cited Markey's work on clean energy, telecommunications, and nuclear weapons as evidence that his colleague "knows in his heart and in his head just what is important to every corner of our state."
Perhaps most symbolically important, the widow of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, Vicki Kennedy, who was rumored to be a potential candidate herself, endorsed Markey as well. "I believe that Congressman Ed Markey is the best person to continue in the tradition of John Kerry," she said. "He will be a superb senator for Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Campaign Committee chairman Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., issued a statement today endorsing Markey. "Ed Markey has spent his career fighting for the people of Massachusetts," the statement read. "At a time when the country needs real leadership that looks out for the middle class, Ed Markey always remembers where he came from and will continue the hard work needed to turn our economy around. He is exactly the kind of leader Massachusetts needs in the U.S. Senate."
Markey, who is the dean of Massachusetts' Washington delegation and the ranking member on the House's Natural Resources Committee, was perhaps best known in recent years as the co-author, with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., of the 2009 "American Clean Energy and Security Act," better known as "cap and trade," which passed the House in June 2009.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, has said he will appoint a placeholder to fill Kerry's seat until a special election later in 2013 produces a victor. President Obama announced last week that he will nominate Kerry as his next Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton, who is expected to step down in the coming weeks. When Kerry is confirmed and he resigns from the Senate, Patrick's placeholder will be sworn in and the special election in which Markey will run will be held within 145 to 160 days to fill the remainder of Kerry's term.
Two other Bay State Democrats, Reps. Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch, have expressed interest in running in the special election for Kerry's seat but have not yet formalized bids.