Son of late icon Kennedy may run for US Senate

US Senator Edward Kennedy’s son, Edward Kennedy Jr. AFP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON – A son of late political icon Edward Kennedy is considering a run for the US senate seat in Massachusetts – the same state his late father represented as a popular US lawmaker for nearly five decades, US media reported Sunday.

Edward Kennedy Jr, 51, commonly referred to as “Teddy,” is giving serious consideration to running for the US Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate if he is confirmed as secretary of state, according to Kennedy’s brother, former US representative Patrick Kennedy.

“It’s not something he took lightly when he was approached about running,” Patrick Kennedy told The Boston Globe.

“He got the message that he should seriously look at it,” he said.

If Kennedy decides to run, he will be the latest member of America’s foremost political dynasty to seek elective office.

Teddy Kennedy, who heads a financial firm and is a leading advocate for disability rights, currently resides in Connecticut but owns a house at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

He reportedly has reached out to family members, friends, and some prominent Democrats, while weighing the decision to take the plunge into elective politics, after reportedly being urged to run by leading Democrats.

If Kennedy runs, he is likely to face outgoing Republican Senator Scott Brown, who last month was defeated in his bid to be re-elected to the seat left vacant when his Edward Kennedy Sr died in 2009.

Scarcely six weeks after Democratic consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren defeated Brown in the November 2012 election, President Barack Obama announced that he would tap senior the senior Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to be his secretary of state, creating the expected Senate opening for which Kennedy and Brown could vie.