After Senate defeat, Joe Kennedy III plots new path in politics

Former Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, who ended his eight-year career in Congress three weeks ago after losing a bid to unseat Senator Edward J. Markey last summer, is launching a new political action committee aimed at bolstering grassroots organizing efforts in Massachusetts and overlooked states around the country.

The initiative, called Groundwork Project, will try to leverage the former congressman’s substantial network of donors and allies to support community activists and “hyperlocal” organizing efforts to help Democrats expand their base, win elections, and deliver on progressive policy priorities, according to materials announcing the launch.

Kennedy’s new effort will seek to identify groups both in Massachusetts and nationally doing organizing work in underrepresented and disenfranchised communities and “lift them up” — through fundraising, help with media attention, volunteers, or other resources, Kennedy said in an interview with the Globe.