Ayanna Pressley the looming bigfoot in U.S. Senate race

Ayanna Pressley is the looming bigfoot in subsequent yr’s U.S. Senate race, able to booting out incumbent Ed Markey the identical approach she toppled longtime Rep. Michael Capuano in a Democratic major 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 Pressley will depict Markey as outdated and rancid and herself as a part of a wave of youthful, brisker and extra aggressive Democrats keen to tackle President Donald Trump.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.”

“It is a combat for the soul of our social gathering, and the way forward for our democracy, at a time when our nation is at a crossroads,” Pressley stated on election night time when she gained Massachusetts’ seventh congressional district.

That very same message may resonate with liberal Democratic major voters subsequent yr when Markey’s seat is up for grabs in a possible three-way Democratic major.

Trump continues to be the president and Democrats are preventing to win again the Home from Republicans within the 2026 mid-term election.

A brand new Suffolk College-Boston Globe ballot confirms that Pressley, probably 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 major vote.

Moulton trails by double digits in third place and the ballot of Democratic major voters suggests he’s not the actual downside 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-Seventies.

Working in opposition to Markey could be an enormous danger for Pressley, who represents elements of Boston and surrounding communities, as a result of she must hand over her secure Home seat.

It’s additionally unclear whether or not she’d play statewide out of her liberal district. Pressley has taken a lot of excessive positions that would flip off extra average Democrats. The Suffolk ballot confirmed she takes voters from Markey principally within the Boston space.

However would Pressley determine to attend 4 years when Sen. Elizabeth Warren retires? Her previous actions and phrases recommend she would make the leap subsequent yr and go after Markey.

“What do you count on me to do, wait?” Pressley stated in 2018 when requested why she was trying to knock off Capuano.

Pressley has notably not knocked down reviews that she is contemplating working in opposition to Markey and Moulton, and a lot of components may tip the stability in favor of a Senate candidacy subsequent yr.

The Democratic major citizens in Massachusetts continues to be overwhelmingly liberal and anti-Trump, which may assist Pressley, part of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “squad.”

Pressley additionally could be the primary Black lady 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 can have no hassle telling voters why they need to again her over Markey and Moulton.

Age may even be an enormous issue serving to Pressley. Markey seems outdated and drained in his YouTube movies, whereas Pressley seems bolder and extra vibrant.

An enormous query is what progressive political teams with loads 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 prone to again Pressley, which may give her momentum.

A Markey-Pressley-Moulton race would additionally take a look at the loyalties of a lot of Democratic pols. What about Warren? She has endorsed Markey up 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 probability she may throw her endorsement to the congresswoman.