With 10 Days To Go, Ed Markey Fires Up Packed Roxbury Rally As Early Voting Begins

“Now is not the time for selective amnesia” – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

ROXBURY – With just 10 days until Election Day and early voting underway, Senator Ed Markey rallied a packed room of supporters at Roxbury Community College on Saturday, kicking off the final stretch of the Democratic primary with a call to organize, vote early, and fight for a progressive future.

Senator Markey was joined by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D – Delaware), State Senator Liz Miranda, and State Representative Brandy Fluker-Reid, who fired up supporters around the stakes of the September 1 primary and the need to return a proven progressive fighter to the Senate. The rally comes as Massachusetts voters begin casting their ballots and the Markey campaign enters the final 10-day sprint focused on turning out voters across the Commonwealth.

“It’s all going to come down to these final ten days and I’m going to need your help,” Senator Ed Markey told rallygoers. “We must win this race. We must send a message that we don’t just want a democratic majority. We want a progressive democratic majority fighting for Medicare for All and for a Green New Deal.”

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley made the case that the choice before Massachusetts voters could not be clearer and urged supporters to make sure voters understand the stakes.

“I’m here because Senator Markey has been proven and reliable at a time of great upset and uncertainty. We need predictable leadership, courageous leadership, bold leadership,” Pressleysaid. “Brothers and sisters, now is not the time for selective amnesia. People have a very important task and choice in front of them. So I thank you all for doing the work of making sure that people know just how high the stakes are at this moment and why we need to return Ed Markey to the United States Senate.”

U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester spoke about seeing Markey’s leadership firsthand in the Senate. The two Senators serve on three of the same committees within the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

“I get to see Senator Markey champion our planet and make sure that we have clean drinking water, clean air, and that polluters are accountable. I get to see that every day. He holds them accountable,” said U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). “He’s taking on the corporations. He is standing up for us.”

“At a moment when too many politicians are lowering expectations, he’s actually telling us we need to dream bigger, and that’s the kind of Senator that Massachusetts needs,” said State Senator Liz Miranda. “Our voices do matter and our votes actually matter too. And on September 1st, we’re going to send a message loud and clear that we’re standing with our Senator – Senator Ed Markey.”

“Ed has never been afraid to take on the fights that matter, even when they are difficult, even when they are unpopular, and even when powerful interests are standing on the other side,” said State Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid. “He has fought for environmental justice, for affordable health care, for public education, for working families, for immigrant communities, and for civil rights. As someone who came into public service because I saw firsthand how systems can fail Black communities, children, and families, I want a Senator who understands that justice requires action and requires more than words. That is why I am proud to stand with Ed Markey.”

With early voting underway and September 1 rapidly approaching, Markey urged supporters to turn the energy inside Roxbury Community College into votes: knocking doors, talking to neighbors, and organizing across Massachusetts through Election Day. 

Tomorrow, Senator Markey will be campaigning across the North Shore.