Joseph Patrick Kennedy III (born October 4, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th c...
Joseph Patrick Kennedy III (born October 4, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented a district that extends from Boston's western suburbs to the state's South Coast. He worked as an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands and Middlesex County, Massachusetts, offices before his election to Congress.
A member of the Kennedy family, he is a son of U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, a grandson of U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, a grandnephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and a great-grandson of U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
Born in Boston, Kennedy was raised in the area with his twin brother, Matthew Rauch Kennedy. After graduating from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree, he spent two years in the Dominican Republic as a member of the Peace Corps before earning a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School in 2009. He resigned from his role as assistant district attorney in early 2012 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat held by the retiring Barney Frank. Kennedy was sworn into office in January 2013 and sat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
In 2020, rather than run for reelection to his House seat, Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged Senator Ed Markey for the Democratic nomination in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate election. Upon the conclusion of his term on January 3, 2021, he left Congress.
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Keith Ellison
Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th Attorney General of Minnesota. A member of the De...
Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th Attorney General of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2019. He also served as the titular Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2018. In Congress, Ellison was a vice-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a Chief Deputy Whip. He also sat on the House Committee on Financial Services. Ellison was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress and the first African American representative from Minnesota.Ellison's profile was raised when he joined the race for chair of the Democratic National Committee in November 2016, gaining support from progressive groups and U.S. senators Bernie Sanders (of Vermont) and Chuck Schumer (of New York). His candidacy prompted renewed scrutiny of past statements and his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, which drew criticism from some moderate Democrats. Ellison was defeated by former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, who subsequently appointed Ellison Deputy Chair, a decision approved by unanimous voice vote of DNC members.On June 5, 2018, Ellison announced that he would not seek reelection to Congress, and seek the office of Minnesota Attorney General. Ellison won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Doug Wardlow in the general election, becoming the first African American elected to statewide office in Minnesota, as well as the first Muslim in the U.S. to win statewide office.
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