Long knives out in backstabbing Massachusetts congressional delegation

The long political knives are out in Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation, where rumors are swirling around the Senate seat firmly occupied by 79-year-old Ed Markey.

Much of the speculation is centered on U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, the Newton Democrat who won’t close the door on a future run for the U.S. Senate even if Markey decides to follow through with his 2026 re-election bid.

Throw a few other ambitious Democrats like Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Seth Moulton into the mix and you’ve got quite a political pot ready to boil over.

All are motivated by self-interest and jockeying for position in the wake of the Trump presidency, looking to see who can be most effective at blocking the Republican president.

While Wu is now running for re-election, she has assumed a national role in the party as a progressive leader and could easily transfer to a Senate campaign if a seat becomes vacant.

Pressley is still running off the fumes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Squad” and would love to be running for the Senate.

Even Campbell can’t be ruled out of the mix.

The logjam created by Markey refusing to step aside is causing consternation in the delegation, long plagued by internal divisions and jealousies.

Markey, who will turn 80 before next year’s election, would be seen as ripe for retirement were it not for his shocking defeat of former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III in the 2020 Democratic primary, which ended the once-promising career of young Joe.

Markey has been piling up the usual useless endorsements over the last few weeks, including among Democrats in Auchincloss’s hometown.

It was a not-so-subtle message to Auchincloss to stay away from the Senate seat, which many Democrats view as one of the few opportunities to move up in the political world.

Auchincloss, a Marine veteran, is viewed as more moderate than Markey and recently joined a group of up-and-coming Democrats trying to force the party to move away from its condescending stances on many issues, which have turned off voters.

The group calls itself Majority Democrats and has ambitious plans to remake the party into a bolder and younger-looking version that challenges long-held beliefs that have dragged them down.

Auchincloss believes the Democratic party has failed to address issues like housing affordability, causing it to lose its way and become the permanent minority party in the country.

But Auchincloss is currently the only member of the Massachusetts delegation in the Majority Democrats, which is no doubt causing some to question what his real goal is and whether he might be using it as a springboard to the Senate.

“The Democratic Party needs new leaders and big ideas,” Auchincloss said in a recent interview with Politico. “We need a box of fresh crayons.”

Let’s assume Markey, who has been in Congress since the 1970’s and has announced he’s running for re-election, is using the old box of crayons.