A Second Poll Has Bad News for Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey

A recent Fiscal Alliance Foundation poll conducted in March offered some bad news for Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey, who plans to seek re-election next year, four months after his 80th birthday.

The FAF poll gave Markey a 55 percent approval rating versus 30 percent disapproval, yet 55 percent of respondents don't want Markey to seek a third full term. Only 26 percent believe Markey deserves another term.

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Massachusetts voters seem to like Markey, who has served in Congress, first in the House and then the Senate since 1976, but they appear to be ready for a change.

The results of a recent University of New Hampshire poll conducted in May were similar to the FAF survey.

UNH researchers found "more than half (55%) of Massachusetts residents say they are very (24%) or somewhat (31%) concerned about Markey's age, 32% are not very (17%) or not at all (15%) concerned about Markey's age, and 14% don't know or are unsure."

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"Only 33% of Bay Staters say he (Markey) deserves to be re-elected, 43% say he does not deserve to be re-elected, and 25% don't know or have no opinion," according to the survey, which found "fifty-four percent of Democrats say Markey deserves to be re-elected, but only 26% of Independents and 2% of Republicans agree."

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Markey survived what many observers expected would be a close race against former Rep. Joe Kennedy in 2020 with a much stronger-than-expected showing of support at the polls.

READ MORE: UNH Poll Shows Re-Election Worries for Healey

There is speculation that Markey could face a primary challenge next year, possibly from Representative Jake Auchincloss, Governor Maura Healey or even Kennedy.