A new Kennedy on track to join House
WASHINGTON – Democrat Joe Kennedy III won the House seat in central Massachusetts, the newest member of the Kennedy clan headed to Washington after a hiatus without a family member in Congress for the first time in 60 years.
The former county prosecutor, a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School and the great-nephew of the former president, bested Sean Bielat, a Marine reservist and businessman who also earned graduate degrees at Harvard and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The race was called by CNN and the Associated Press.
The solidly Democratic seat in the Newton area was opened with the retirement of longtime Democratic Rep. Barney Frank. Bielat had challenged him unsuccessfully in 2010.
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Kennedy carried not only the family name and recognizable looks, but a super-sized war chest as he ran on his background as a county prosecutor and former Peace Corps worker. He is one of the twin sons of former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, and the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy.
The 112th Congress was without a representative from the Kennedy family after the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy in August 2009 and after Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) decided not to seek reelection in 2010.
Before that, Congress had always had a Kennedy since John F. Kennedy joined the House in 1947.
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