It's EK and JK

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is presented with a bust of President Kennedy by Joseph Kennedy at the Kennedy Library. Stephen Smith, son of Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, is on the left.
BOSTON --- Joseph Kennedy III has officially entered the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and he was hardly off the mark last week when he had an ideal photo-op with visiting taoiseach Enda Kenny, in Boston for a series of meetings mainly focused on trade, at a gathering at the Kennedy Library in Dorchester.

The 31-year-old former assistant district attorney and Peace Corps volunteer opened his campaign last Thursday with stops in several towns in the 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts.

"I believe this country was founded on a simple idea: that every person deserves to be treated fairly, by each other and by their government," the son of former U.S. Congressman Joseph Kennedy II said in his announcement.

Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter

Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.

"But that's not happening anymore," he said. "People from Newton to Fall River see a government that's become more interested in stacking the deck, than allowing every person a fair chance to play their hand."

Kennedy is the grandson of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, and the grand nephew of the late President John Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy.

"My family has had the great privilege of serving Massachusetts before," Kennedy said. "They taught me that public service is an honor, given in trust, and that trust must be earned every day. That's exactly what I intend to do."

Kennedy is expected to face Republican Sean Bielat in the fall, although both men will first face primary challenges.

Bielat, a 36-year-old major in the Marine Corps Reserves who did surprisingly well in his first run for office against Frank two years ago, said in a recent press release that he is not intimidated by the Kennedy mystique.

"We believe that working families are more concerned about making ends meet right now than they are about what Kennedy is looking to step into another political office," he said.

Prior to his meeting with the man referred to as "JoeK111" in headlines, Kenny had met with city leaders at various sites around Boston including Boston College, Harvard University, and the Seaport World Trade Center.

 

Donate