Markey wins reelection in Massachusetts

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has won reelection, breezing past a Republican challenger after surviving a competitive primary in September.

Markey is projected to have defeated Republican nominee Kevin O’Connor, an attorney, to clinch a second full term in the Senate. The incumbent was heavily favored to win reelection after fending off Rep. Joe Kennedy’s challenge for the Democratic nomination earlier this year.

Markey, 74, is the oldest and longest-serving member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation. He was first elected to the House in 1972 and served there for roughly 40 years before winning a 2013 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by former Secretary of State John Kerry.

While Markey was largely overshadowed by fellow Bay State Democrats with higher political ambitions throughout his career, his decades of advocacy for tougher environmental rules and recent work with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the Green New Deal endeared him to the party’s progressive base.