Look for the Dems' Endorsement Tonight
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Two Democrats, U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch of the Eighth Congressional District (left) and U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey of the Fifth Congressional District (right), will face off in a primary set to occur on April 30. The candidates are vying to represent their party in a June 25 special election for the state's vacated U.S. Senate seat.
The Harvard Dems will weigh in tonight on both the politics of the Commonwealth and a politically charged issue on Harvard's campus.
The Harvard College Democrats plan to vote tonight to endorse a candidate vying to fill the Senate seat vacated earlier this month by new Secretary of State John F. Kerry. They will choose between two Democrats, U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey of the Fifth Congressional District and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch of the Eighth Congressional District, who will face off in a primary set to occur on April 30.
“It’s time for Harvard Progressives to formally exercise their voice, and the Senate race presents a clear choice,” Harvard Dems president Simon M. Thompson '14 said in a press release. Thompson added that a recent poll shows the race—once considered to be a Markey landslide—tightening.
Whoever emerges on the Democratic side will almost surely be favored over the Republican nominee in the June 25 special election, according to recent polls. So far, only Daniel B. Winslow, the relatively unknown state representative from Norfolk, Mass., has entered the race for the Republicans.
The Harvard Dems' endorsement event is scheduled to occur this evening at 8 p.m. in Boylston 103. State Rep. Carl Sciortino, who represents neighborhoods in Medford and Somerville, will speak for the Markey campaign, while Braintree Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan will argue the case for Lynch, according to a statement released by the Harvard Dems on Saturday.
The Harvard Dems will also vote whether to endorse Divest Harvard, a student campaign advocating divestment of University funds from the fossil fuel industry. Divestment became the official position of the Undergraduate Council following a College-wide referendum this past November.