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Majority of Mass. members of Congress backing Ed Markey’s reelection bid

US Senator Ed Markey has already secured the backing of most of the Massachusetts delegation in Washington as he looks to run again in 2020.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Already facing two challengers with the Democratic primary more than a year away, Senator Edward J. Markey is lining up support among the state congressional delegation, with a couple of prominent holdouts.

Six of Markey’s Massachusetts colleagues in Congress have endorsed his 2020 bid for another six-year term.

The Globe polled the state’s nine representatives and its other senator, Elizabeth Warren, this week after Politico reported that Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, is the subject of an effort to draft him to run for Senate in 2020.

All are Democrats.

Warren, and Representatives Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Stephen Lynch, Bill Keating, and Lori Trahan endorsed Markey’s bid for the party’s Senate nomination, spokespeople said.

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“I’m proud to have the endorsements of each of these colleagues who are all dedicated to fighting for the families of Massachusetts,” Markey said in a statement.

“The Massachusetts congressional delegation is one of the most influential and effective in Congress, and we will continue our work together on the critical issues that matter most to the people of Massachusetts.”

Representative Katherine Clark “intends to make public endorsements at a later time,” a spokeswoman, Kathryn Alexander, said.

Clark and Markey will hold a town hall together next week, according to a Facebook page.

Kennedy “has not yet had endorsement conversations with his colleagues but in the past has supported fellow members of the delegation,” spokeswoman Emily Kaufman said. She said he “is running for reelection in the 4th District.”

Spokespeople for Representatives Seth Moulton and Ayanna Pressley, who won their seats in Congress by unseating incumbents in Democratic primaries, were mum.

Moulton aides did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A Pressley spokesman declined to comment.

Markey faces at least two candidates in the Democratic primary, labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan and businessman and author Steve Pemberton.

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On Thursday, Markey notched the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice America, a group that supports abortion rights.

A member of the House of Representatives since 1976, Markey won a special election for Senate in 2013.

He was sworn in to the Senate on July 16, 2013, and won a full six-year term in 2014 with little opposition — and little attention paid to the race.


Joshua Miller can be reached at joshua.miller@globe.com.