Rep. Delahunt Is Latest Dem to Bow Out

Joining 16 of his fellow House Democrats, Massachusetts Rep. William Delahunt says he will not seek re-election this fall. “It’s got nothing to do with politics,” Delahunt, 68, tells the Boston Globe. “It’s time.” And while Delahunt had to be talked into seeking re-election in 2008 by his friend, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the Globe notes that his district voted most lopsidedly for Republican Scott Brown in the January election to fill Kennedy’s seat.

And while Republicans see another golden opportunity in what was once a solidly Democratic state, the Dems look to have a number of strong candidates in the wings. One, the AP reported last week, is Joseph P. Kennedy III, a 29-year-old grandson of onetime Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy.
(More Rep. Bill Delahunt stories.)