Edward J. Markey traveled to Southern Maine on Sunday to help boost Troy Jackson, the Maine Democratic Senate nominee, even as he is on the ballot himself. Two days before voters decide whether to send him back to Washington, he sat for a fireside chat in Scarborough, Maine.
Markey used the appearance to argue that President Trump has declared war on the New England economy. He said the region will need someone who is "we’re going to need someone who is a climate champion," "a great working-class warrior," and "and a champion to take on billionaires."
Southern Maine for Troy Jackson
The Sunday stop took place in a banquet hall in a beachside community in Southern Maine. Jackson is facing Susan Collins in the Maine Senate race, and Markey’s trip put him in the middle of that contest while his own reelection bid is still underway.
That pairing gives the visit a practical edge. Markey is spending time on other candidates’ campaigns while voters are deciding whether to return him to Washington, and Jackson’s race could help tip the balance of power in the chamber.
Markey’s progressive circuit
Markey has also promoted like-minded Senate candidates around the country. He posted videos, participated in fund-raisers, attended events in Washington, D.C., and stumped on the ground for other progressive candidates while running for reelection himself.
His recent stops included a fund-raiser for Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan during her primary, an event in Washington, D.C., and a virtual rally for Sherrod Brown in September, and a virtual volunteer call for Abdul El-Sayed last week. Markey defeated Representative Seth Moulton in their Democratic primary, and a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll last month found him leading John Deaton by nearly 30 percentage points.
Markey’s last term
Mark Horan, a former Markey adviser, said the senator aims to "amplify the fact that he’s a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party." Horan also said, "The progressive movement has gotten more vigorous, but he saw that before the rest of us," and added that Markey "sees a fire burning on issues that he’s been working on all his life and wants to go and stoke the fire because there’s a chance for a pretty big victory here — both for Democrats and also for progressives."
Jackson called Markey "one of the hardest-working US senators I’ve seen so far." Markey has said that if elected, his next term would be his last, leaving his current campaign to serve both as a reelection bid and a platform for other candidates he has chosen to back.
