Of interest to folks here in the commonwealth, and to progressives elsewhere interested in the status of a primary against a progressive Senator which might have included a third, progressive, candidate…. It won’t.
For those who haven’t been following along…a quick recap:
In October Seth Moulton, Massachusetts democratic member of the US house, pictured above while inspecting an ice facility, announced he would primary Ed Markey US senator for Massachusetts.
Recent polling had showed Moulton behind Markey but also showed US house rep Ayanna Pressley with a narrow lead over both Moulton and Markey in a three way race.
Ayanna Pressley, a member of the”squad” , had been careful to leave her options open, but now has publicly announced she will not run against Markey but instead run for reelection in the house.
In the end there were two major factors that led Pressley to run for another term in the House. The first, she said, was her family: Her daughter is a senior in high school, and Pressley knew a bruising campaign would mean even less time at home than her congressional schedule already allows.
…“I do want to be able to sit around the dinner table and be there for my daughter’s dance performances when I can. These are just moments I’m not going to be able to get back.”
The second major factor, Pressley said, was that she wants to continue her work in the House. She recounted visiting with a group of Girl Scouts in October as part of a civic engagement event at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. As they gathered around asking her to inscribe their brand new notebooks, she had a realization that she still felt a calling to the House.
Pressley in October with Girl Scouts .
“As I was closing each message out, I wrote, ‘With love, your congresswoman, Ayanna Pressley,’ and I found myself getting choked up,” she said. “And that was also confirmation that my work was unfinished.”
www.bostonglobe.com/...
I don’t suggest to have any inside scoop or even particularly hot take here… if she had entered the race it would have pitted Pressley a young(er) progressive against a progressive incumbent Senator Ed Markey (79) and US house rep Seth Moulton who is more of a mainstream democrat. The globe describes him as center-left — fair enough.
The globe published this opinion piece which points out it would have also been messy, if not nasty and by no means a sure thing for Pressley.
Her political base overlaps heavily with Markey’s: Boston progressives, younger climate-minded voters, and the activist class that propelled him in 2020, when he last faced a challenge. Moulton, meanwhile, would have siphoned off voters hungry for generational change and a more combative posture. Pressley would have needed to beat both, not just one. Anyone who has watched Massachusetts Democratic primaries knows how unforgiving that math can be. The risk wasn’t that she’d get wiped out. The risk was that she’d get stuck in the middle — strong enough to make it competitive, not strong enough to break through.
www.bostonglobe.com/...
I would argue Moulton would also siphon off conservative dems and possibly attract some independents (Massachusetts primaries are open in that they allow same day party registration changes) .
Now we are back, at least for now, to a head to head match up which currently shows Markey with a comfortable lead over his challenger.
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As always If these globe gift links fail you let me know and I’ll work on fixing them
also- is there a group that I should/could republish Massachusetts related stories too?
