Jake Auchincloss wins Massachusetts primary for Kennedy’s House seat

Jake Auchincloss has won the Massachusetts Democratic primary in the race to fill the House seat being vacated by Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D). 

The race was called early Friday morning by The Associated Press. Auchincloss, a moderate Democrat, won the crowded primary with less than 23 percent of the vote.

Auchincloss, a Newton city councilor and Marine veteran, came out in front of a crowded field of primary candidates in the state’s 4th Congressional District, which Kennedy vacated so he could wage a primary challenge against Sen. Ed Markey (D). 

Markey defeated Kennedy in the Senate primary on Tuesday night.

Auchincloss will be heavily favored to win the southern Massachusetts district this November, where Kennedy ran unopposed in 2018.

Kennedy’s announcement last year that he would not seek reelection to the House so he could run for the Senate sparked a tidal wave of Democrats looking to replace him in the lower chamber. 

Auchincloss has made federal aid to local schools during the coronavirus pandemic a priority of his campaign and has said he would work to expand the Affordable Care Act if elected.