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Max Kennedy endorses Khazei in US Senate race

E-mail|Link|Comments () October 8, 2009 03:01 PM

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

City Year cofounder Alan Khazei this afternoon was endorsed in the US Senate race by Max Kennedy, the nephew of the man who held the seat for 47 years, and then launched a tour of several colleges in Massachusetts.

Max Kennedy

Kennedy, who flew in Wednesday night from California, said it was the first time he has ever endorsed a candidate in a Democratic primary.

"In Massachusetts, and in this country, we need to change education, we need to change health care, we need to give real opportunity for jobs, and we need leaders in the Senate who are unafraid to take on the interests that have controlled those areas for 30 years and force real change," Kennedy, a son of the late Robert Kennedy, said in the Kennedy Room at downtown Boston’s Parker House hotel.

In the Democratic primary, Khazei is running against two well-established politicians, Attorney General Martha Coakley and US Representative Michael E. Capuano, as well as Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca.

Khazei hammered away at several issues, including his pledge not to accept campaign contributions from political action committees or registered lobbyists.

“You won’t have to hire a lobbyist to get a meeting with me,” Khazei told a crowd of about 50 supporters. “You’ll just need a good idea and an honest concern.”

Pagliuca, whose personal wealth has been estimated at $400 million, has also taken that pledge, but Coakley and Capuano have not.

Max Kennedy was joined by his wife, Vicki, who was a volunteer at City Year. Max is also a close friend of Khazei’s brother, Lance, who is now working on the campaign.

Khazei was also joined on the stage by his wife, Vanessa, and his senior adviser Hubie Jones, dean emeritus of the Boston University School of Social Work.

At one point, while Khazei was introducing his wife, his cellphone rang.

“Sorry President Obama, I gotta call you back,” he said, looking back up at the crowd. “I’m going to learn to turn that off, don’t worry.”

After the endorsement, Khazei and his crew left for campaign events at Harvard University and Tufts University before an evening rally at Bella Luna in Jamaica Plain.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.