Ed Markey, Joe Kennedy, and Waiting-Your-Turn Politics in Massachusetts

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1. Key section

If Warren wins the Democratic nomination and presidency, her Senate seat would open up, and Kennedy musing about a statewide campaign now could merely be a signal to other ambitious Massachusetts pols that he intends to take over what was his great-uncle Ted’s seat for nearly 47 years. That special election could even happen in November 2020, if Warren decides to bet on herself and resigns her seat after securing the nomination. That would allow a Democrat to most likely occupy that seat from the time a potential President Warren takes the nomination, instead of a temporary replacement installed by Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. And the fact that mechanisms exist for Warren’s opening to be decided by special election in 2020 likely explains the timing of Kennedy’s whisper campaign.