Kennedy said DSCC prevented him from helping Democrats flip GOP seats

Rep. Joe Kennedy III’s (D-Mass.) Senate campaign said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has prevented him from launching a group aimed at helping other Senate Democrats up for reelection.

Kennedy, who is locked in a contentious primary against sitting Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), planned to launch a joint committee to raise funds and support Democratic Senate candidates Sara Gideon in Maine, Jaime Harrison in South Carolina, Cal Cunningham in North Carolina and Barbara Bollier in Kansas. 

The congressman’s campaign made the pitch to the candidates on Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe. The paper reported that the candidates were receptive to the plan but that the Kennedy campaign was later told by one of the Democratic campaigns that the DSCC, which is focused in part on defending incumbents, said that they could not team up with Kennedy in the proposed committee.

The DSCC declined to comment. 

The Hill has reached out to the four Democratic campaigns for comment.

“Congressman Kennedy will continue to support efforts across the country to flip the Senate so Democrats have the votes to pass everything from climate action to gun violence legislation in 2021,” Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Emily Kaufman said in a statement to the Globe.

The DSCC has gotten behind Markey’s reelection bid.

“We’ve endorsed him publicly. We will be there to work with him and his team to ensure that they have the resources they need to get his message out,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), the chairwoman of the DSCC, said last year, referring to Markey.

Markey has also landed the endorsements of a number of other Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Kennedy also received endorsements from Democratic lawmakers: House Progressive Caucus Chairman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and fourteen other House Democrats announced their support for Kennedy in January.

The congressman has pledged to bring generational change and a fresh perspective to the Senate as Washington remains divided on partisan lines. Kennedy has particularly focused on the issues of immigration and health care in the primary.

Markey, in turn, has touted his experience in Washington, pointing to a long list of achievements, including co-authoring the Green New Deal.