Edward Markey

You have to hand it to Eddie Markey even if you did not vote for him.

He is the undefeated Rocky Marciano of Massachusetts politics.

And when he finally retires, the way the late heavyweight boxing champion from Brockton did all those years ago, he will most likely also retire undefeated.

Marciano, with a record of 49 wins and no defeats, was the heavyweight boxing champion from 1952-1956, and was said to be the inspiration for Rocky Balboa in actor Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movie franchise. Marciano died in an Iowa plane crash in 1969.

Like Marciano, Markey has beaten everyone who has run against him in his long political career, including Joe Kennedy III six years ago, handing the Kennedy clan its only defeat in Massachusetts.

Still, after easily demolishing Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, in the Democrat primary for the U.S. Senate Tuesday, Markey, at age 80, must still run against Republican John Deaton in the November election.

But as it was foolish to bet against Marciano all those years ago, it would be just as foolish to bet against Markey in heavily Democrat and progressive Massachusetts.

Moulton banked on the age issue helping him against Markey. But it did not work out that way, just as it did not impact other Democrat primary races on Tuesday.

For instance, veteran U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, 76, of Springfield, ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, handily defeated challenger Jerome Whalen, 39, in the 1st Congressional District.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, 71, of South Boston beat progressive challenger Patrick Roath, 39, in the 8th Congressional District.

In Middlesex County, longtime District Attorney Marian Ryan, 71, won the renomination by defeating challenger David Solet, 50.

While Republican endorsed candidate Mike Minogue was expected to win the GOP nomination for governor, the size of his victory over Brian Shortsleeve surprised some observers.

Minogue, a largely self-funded candidate, won 75% of the GOP primary vote over the hard-charging Shortsleeve’s 24%.

Shortsleeve in defeat, showed class by immediately endorsing Minogue in his upcoming battle with Healey. “He has my full support,” Shortsleeve said, “and I am asking everyone who supported our campaign to join me in supporting him.”

Minogue, new to Massachusetts politics, has so far refrained from attacking Healey, while Healey, in negative television attack ads, early on went after Minogue, calling him “Maga Mike” for his prior support of Donald Trump.

Rather than answer Healey in kind, Minogue, a West Point graduate and Army Desert Storm combat veteran, did not even mention Healey by name in his victory speech.

Instead, he referred to his “opponents” who “will choose to dishonestly attack me with political ads, and in fact they have already begun. Well, we’re choosing something different. We’re going to go down a different path.”

If that path is the high road, and Healey’s attacks go unanswered, then Minogue will have his hat handed to him.

Healey, running as an underdog, is going to go nasty and negative instead of any major accomplishments to campaign on other than hating Trump, abolishing ICE and allowing abortion.

“We see the damage Trump is doing every day,” she said at her Tuesday night rally. “He’s raising your costs, he’s terrorizing our communities, he’s taking away your health care and your rights

“In this election, we’re going to send a message that if you support Donald Trump, if you funded him, if you endorse the bad things he’s done to our state, then you cannot be governor of Massachusetts,” she said.

Yeah, right.

Minogue needs to answer.

Peter Lucas can be reached at: [email protected]