Daughter of R.F.K. Opens House Campaign

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, pointing to a Kennedy “family tradition of service and sacrifice,” launched her campaign Thursday for a House seat from Maryland.

Townsend, the second child of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to seek a congressional seat in the upcoming elections, acknowledged that she faces an uphill battle against one-term Rep. Helen Delich Bentley (R-Md.).

Among 400 supporters packed into the American Legion Hall was Townsend’s younger brother, Joseph Kennedy, who is running for the congressional seat held by retiring House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.).

Although she filed her candidacy papers in January and made informal campaign appearances even earlier, Townsend’s “official” announcement was not scheduled until family members could be present.

Townsend said that in her campaign she wanted to share “a remembrance of the patriotism, the idealism, the courage and the honesty that President Kennedy . . . and my father, Robert Kennedy, brought to public life.”