Joe Kennedy Swings Through New Bedford on Election Day

Joseph P. Kennedy III has been campaigning hard in Massachusetts' so-called "Gateway Cities," and Tuesday he greeted a group of raucous supporters in New Bedford with only five hours to go until the polls closed in the Sept. 1 primary election.

Kennedy fans gathered in front of the Campbell Elementary School at around 3 p.m. and yelled "Let's Go Joe" as the Democratic congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate worked the neighborhood crowd.

Kennedy, who represents the 4th Congressional District, is challenging Senator Ed Markey -- co-author of the "Green New Deal" -- for his seat. Kennedy has spent significant time in the South Coast cities of Fall River and New Bedford, along with other working class communities in the state.

"I respect the senator, but I don't think he's given us what we need," Kennedy told reporters when asked why he's challenging Markey. "And for folks who think he has, come visit cities like Fall River and New Bedford. Come visit cities like Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield. You talk to folks there who are doing everything they can to try to provide for their families, to meet the challenges of the day."

Kennedy said people who can't plan for their futures because they live week-to-week and month-to-month "need a senator who’s going to sit there and be by their side fighting for them every single day."

Kennedy and his entourage, who also campaigned in Worcester and Fall River Tuesday, piled back into their white cargo van and headed north to Boston to meet voters in Roxbury and Dorchester before landing at his headquarters in Watertown to wait out election night.

Markey has spoken twice in New Bedford during his campaign -- In July at Pier 3 on the waterfront, and last week at Custom House Square downtown. Markey spoke about climate change and racial justice while touting $15 million he procured in 2018 to help expand a dock facility in New Bedford to accommodate more fishing boats. He has also pointed to his work to include aid for the fisheries in the CARES Act.

Polls close tonight at 8 p.m.