Ayanna Pressley is the looming bigfoot in subsequent yr’s U.S. Senate race, able to booting out incumbent Ed Markey the identical means 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 Pressley will depict Markey as outdated and rancid and herself as a part of a wave of youthful, brisker and extra aggressive Democrats keen to tackle President Donald Trump. Her marketing campaign slogan then was “Change Can’t Wait.”
“This is a fight for the soul of our party, and the future of our democracy, at a time when our country is at a crossroads,” Pressley stated on election night time when she received Massachusetts’ seventh congressional district.
That very same message may resonate with liberal Democratic main voters subsequent yr when Markey’s seat is up for grabs in a possible three-way Democratic main.
Trump continues 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 severe menace 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 useless 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 actual 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-Nineteen Seventies.
Operating in opposition to Markey can be an enormous threat for Pressley, who represents components of Boston and surrounding communities, as a result of she must surrender her protected Home seat.
It’s additionally unclear whether or not she’d play statewide out of her liberal district. Pressley has taken quite a few excessive positions that would flip off extra reasonable Democrats. The Suffolk ballot confirmed she takes voters from Markey largely within the Boston space.
However would Pressley determine to attend 4 years when Sen. Elizabeth Warren retires? Her previous actions and phrases counsel she would make the leap subsequent yr and go after Markey.
“What do you expect 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 working in opposition to Markey and Moulton, and quite a few components may tip the steadiness in favor of a Senate candidacy subsequent yr.
The Democratic main voters in Massachusetts continues to be overwhelmingly liberal and anti-Trump, which may 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, typically struggled to say why he was working in opposition to Markey. The 51-year-old Pressley is not any shrinking violet and may have no bother telling voters why they need to again her over Markey and Moulton.
Age can even be an enormous issue serving to Pressley. Markey seems to be outdated and drained in his YouTube movies, whereas Pressley seems to be bolder and extra vibrant.
A giant query is what progressive political teams with a number of marketing campaign cash will do if Pressley takes the plunge. Will they abandon Markey for her?
Ladies’s teams like Emily’s Checklist and minority teams are more likely to again Pressley, which may give her momentum.
A Markey-Pressley-Moulton race would additionally take a look at the loyalties of quite a few 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 very good probability she may throw her endorsement to the congresswoman.
Matt Stone/Boston Herald
Salem Rep. Seth Moulton (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
