His political career began as a state legislator representing Malden and Melrose on Beacon Hill.
MALDEN - When U.S. Rep. Torbert "Toby" MacDonald died in office in 1976, a young Massachusetts state representative saw an opportunity to take his public service to the next level.
Democrat Edward Markey, then an ambitious 29-year-old just three years into his service as a state legislator, reflected on President John F. Kennedy, an Irish-Catholic Massachusetts man, achieving what many had said couldn't be done, and jumped into the race for Congress.
It was an uphill battle as Markey faced a field of 11 Democrats, many of whom had qualifications and resumes well beyond his experience. Despite the odds, he emerged as the Democratic candidate with 22 percent of the primary vote. And, in the general election a little more than a month later, Markey defeated his Republican competitor by a landslide, 77 percent to 18 percent.
Since November 1976, Markey has represented the congressional district surrounding his hometown of Malden as colleagues came and went. Now the ninth-longest serving member of the House, Markey now faces another challenge– trying to win a statewide election to cap his political career by taking a seat in the U.S. Senate.
"I represent the community that gave our family its start in America. I know that I don't work any harder, and I know that I'm no smarter, than my parents and my grandparents," Markey said in a recent interview with The Republican and MassLive.com. "I know that I'm the beneficiary of opportunities they did not receive and I'm very aware of that. And, I believe it's my responsibility to make sure those opportunities are given to the next generation. And the government has a role to play in helping families ensure that their children are able to maximize their God-given abilities."
Markey lists his residence as the Townsend Street home where he grew up in this city of nearly 60,000 north of Boston, although he spends a significant amount of time at a home in Chevy Chase, Md. The issue of residency has been a persistent one for the longtime congressman since 1994, even prompting one Republican candidate to take to the streets of Malden to create a campaign video in the style of a news report, called the "Undocumented Congressman."
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Markey stands in front of his home in Malden where he was found when reporter Shira Schoenberg traveled to the neighborhood on a morning in January 2013 to write an investigative piece on his residency. (Staff photo by Shira Schoenberg)
Markey takes the criticism in stride. He insists his connection to his roots is strong and helped inspire him to be bold enough to risk giving up his seniority in Congress should he become the state's next junior senator.
When the youngest of his father's siblings passed away, Markey said, he ventured to Lowell to pay his respects. Following the funeral, he recalled, he decided to go to the house where his father grew up and knock on the door to see who lives there today.
"When the door opened, it was a Dominican couple with their children in the same three-decker in South Lawrence at 88 Phillips St. And, we had this wonderful visit on the day that the very last of the Markeys who had grown up there had passed away," Markey said. "And, it reinforced to me that while the accents are different, the aspirations are the same for those families."
Markey grew up as the oldest of three children. His twin brothers, now both lawyers in Boston, are a year younger than he.
He attended the Immaculate Conception Elementary School and Malden Catholic High School, going on to earn a bachelor's degree. from Boston College in 1968 and his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1972. A year after completing law school, Markey was elected to the state Legislature to represent the 16th Middlesex District of Malden and Melrose.
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U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., as pictured in his 1989 Congressional portrait. He has served in the House of Representatives since 1976. (Wikimedia Commons image)
Asked to reflect on his more than 30 years on Capitol Hill, Markey pauses and finally settles on saying he is most proud of his work in telecommunications.
"I was the chairman over telecommunications in the 1990s, and I was able to move through three bills," Markey said, "one which created the 18-inch satellite dish, the next which created the third, fourth, fifth and sixth cell phone license, which moved cellular technology from analog to digital and dropped the price from 50 cents a minute down to under 10 cents a minute, making it more affordable for people to have a cell phone in their pocket. And, I was also the author of the 1996 Telecommunications Act which created the world in which cable companies could provide long distance and local phone service and data. And, similarly, the phone companies could provide cable services."
A criticism of the 1996 law which Markey referenced in his reflections was that it deregulated telecommunications to the point where large media conglomerates were able to become even larger, leading to less diversity in news ownership.
In 1992, Markey also pushed for passage of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act. It stated that cable providers had to carry local network affiliates and opened up the market to competition from satellite TV providers.
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts stands on the steps of the Capitol on Dec. 17, 1996, after leading more than 1,000 people in prayer during an anti-impeachment rally as then President Bill Clinton was embroiled in the infamous sex scandal. (File photo by Carl Bower)
"My goal was to move us from black rotary-dial phones to BlackBerrys," Markey said, remarking on how such technology has progressed even further and become increasingly accessible.
Markey says he is particularly proud of how the 1996 act included a provision to spent $2.2 billion annually for computers and Internet access for libraries and schools, typically putting technology into the hands of poor people who may not otherwise be able to afford it.
Such accessibility, he says, is just as important as innovation itself.
"It subsidizes upwards of 80 to 90 percent of those bills for the school system to keep those computers there and to give kids the access to the Internet," Markey said. "I felt that if we're going to speed up the pace at which technology is revolutionizing America and the world, we have to speed up the pace at which young kids have access to the technology. It's a mixture of unleashing private sector initiative and also making sure that there would be universal access to the technology."
In Congress, Markey has also built a reputation for introducing and supporting legislation aimed at protecting the environment.
He opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline project and has worked to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
A May 2007 trip to Greenland helped change his perspective on life, Markey said.
"They took us out onto this ice block about 50 miles where the scientific data was being gathered about the melting. As the summer goes on, these huge lakes of water form on top of the ice block and melt through to the bottom," he said. "It was an incredible experience to be there and see what the impacts of global warming are and why it's so necessary to lead a green energy revolution from Massachusetts. We have to be the leaders and we protect the planet against the worst catastrophic effects of global warming. And we can create tens of thousands of jobs here in Massachusetts while doing it. I've been working toward that goal of making us a leader but it was an eye opening experience."
Markey's push to create jobs in the renewable energy sector in Massachusetts is something that resonates with Democratic activist Nicole LaChappelle.
"Over the course of time, the issues of green and renewable energy jobs have become attached to Ed Markey's name," said LaChappelle, of Easthampton. "It is part of the reason I've come to follow his career over the years."
Asked if he would open a district office in Western Massachusetts office if elected, Markey wouldn't give a direct answer. Instead, he spoke of having enjoyed a visit last year to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and talked up his camaraderie with U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield.
But when prodded again, Markey said, "The people of Western Massachusetts will know they have a senator who cares about them. That will be at the top of my priority list. I will be a very active senator for Western Massachusetts."
Markey is married to Susan Blumenthal, a doctor and health care expert, and both write blogs for the Huffington Post.
In regards to his entertainment and leisure habits, Markey says it is hard to overstate just how much he loves the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins and the New England Patriots.
But other than keeping up with New England sports teams, he says he likes "good" movies, naming "Lincoln" and the latest James Bond film "Skyfall" as the most recent movies he's enjoyed.
When it comes to music, the congressman said he doesn't own an MP3 player and, instead, streams his favorites via Pandora. What does he include? Marvin Gaye, Nat King Cole, Diana Krall and Johnny Mathis.
Cara Rintala, left, is shown with the woman she is accused of murdering, her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala.
