Ayanna Pressley is the looming bigfoot in subsequent yr’s U.S. Senate race, able to booting out incumbent Ed Markey the identical approach she toppled longtime Rep. Michael Capuano in a Democratic main problem.
If she follows the identical playbook she used on Somerville’s Capuano in 2018, Rep. Pressley will depict Markey as outdated and rancid and herself as a part of a wave of youthful, more energizing and extra aggressive Democrats keen to tackle President Donald Trump. Her marketing campaign slogan then was “Change Can’t Wait.”
“This can be a battle for the soul of our social gathering, and the way forward for our democracy, at a time when our nation is at a crossroads,” Pressley stated on election evening when she received Massachusetts’ seventh congressional district.
That very same message might resonate with liberal Democratic main voters subsequent yr when Markey’s seat is up for grabs in a possible three-way Democratic main.
Trump remains to be the president and Democrats are combating to win again the Home from Republicans within the 2026 mid-term election.
A brand new Suffolk College-Boston Globe ballot confirms that Pressley, essentially the most far-left member of the Massachusetts delegation, is a critical risk to the 79-year-old Markey’s political survival.
In a three-way matchup that features Rep. Seth Moulton, who has already launched his Senate candidacy, Pressley and Markey are in a lifeless warmth with simply over one-third of the Democratic main vote.
Moulton trails by double digits in third place and the ballot of Democratic main voters suggests he’s not the true drawback for Markey – it’s Pressley who’s able to pulling the ultimate curtain over the incumbent’s lengthy profession in Congress, which started within the mid-Seventies.
Operating towards Markey can be a giant danger for Pressley, who represents elements of Boston and surrounding communities, as a result of she must quit her secure Home seat.
It’s additionally unclear whether or not she’d play statewide out of her liberal district. Pressley has taken numerous excessive positions that would flip off extra reasonable Democrats. The Suffolk ballot confirmed she takes voters from Markey principally within the Boston space.
However would Pressley determine to attend 4 years when Sen. Elizabeth Warren retires? Her previous actions and phrases recommend she would make the leap subsequent yr and go after Markey.
“What do you count on me to do, wait?” Pressley stated in 2018 when requested why she was trying to knock off Capuano.
Pressley has notably not knocked down stories that she is contemplating operating towards Markey and Moulton, and numerous components might tip the steadiness in favor of a Senate candidacy subsequent yr.
The Democratic main voters in Massachusetts remains to be overwhelmingly liberal and anti-Trump, which might assist Pressley, part of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “squad.”
Pressley additionally can be the primary Black girl ever elected to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, a historic feat that makes her candidacy distinctive.
And if Markey thinks he’s invincible as a result of he defeated a Kennedy six years in the past, he ought to suppose once more. Pressley is not any Joe Kennedy III.
Kennedy, then a congressman, usually struggled to say why he was operating towards Markey. The 51-year-old Pressley is not any shrinking violet and could have no hassle telling voters why they need to again her over Markey and Moulton.
Age may even be a giant issue serving to Pressley. Markey seems outdated and drained in his YouTube movies, whereas Pressley seems bolder and extra vibrant.
A giant query is what progressive political teams with plenty of marketing campaign cash will do if Pressley takes the plunge. Will they abandon Markey for her?
Ladies’s teams like Emily’s Listing and minority teams are prone to again Pressley, which might give her momentum.
A Markey-Pressley-Moulton race would additionally check the loyalties of numerous Democratic pols. What about Warren? She has endorsed Markey prior to now however would she nonetheless again him if Pressley is within the race? Or would she sit it out?
And what would Boston Mayor Michelle Wu do? Wu is near Pressley – they each served on the Boston Metropolis Council collectively – and there’s a great probability she might throw her endorsement to the congresswoman.
Matt Stone/Boston Herald
Salem Rep. Seth Moulton (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
