oseph P. Kennedy III, the son of a former congressman and the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, said Sunday he had decided against running for the U.S. House from Massachusetts this year.
Kennedy told The Associated Press that he wants to remain in his new job as a prosecutor in Cape Cod's Barnstable County. The 29-year-old Stanford University and Harvard Law graduate has held the post only for eight months.
"I've got a job I love being an assistant district attorney on the Cape, and I want to get better at it at this point," Kennedy said. "I know serving in Congress would be a great job, but I've got a great job."
A top state Democrat said Saturday that Kennedy was weighing a race if Rep. William Delahunt were to decide against seeking re-election in the 10th Congressional District, which encompasses the Massachusetts South Shore and Cape Cod.
Delahunt and the rest of the Massachusetts Democratic establishment were rocked in January when Republican Scott Brown staged an upset to win the U.S. Senate seat held for more than four decades by Kennedy's uncle, Edward M. Kennedy. While Kennedy's widow, Vicki, and Joseph P. Kennedy III's father, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, both eschewed races, they lobbied hard for the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Her loss raised questions about the endurance of the Kennedy legacy. It also inspired several local Republicans, including former state Treasurer Joe Malone and state Rep. Jeffrey Perry of Sandwich, to say they are considering running for Delahunt's seat.
Delahunt has been criticized in recent weeks for his handling of a 1986 shooting by Amy Bishop, a University of Alabama professor accused of killing three colleagues this month. At the time, Delahunt was the local district attorney, and he accepted the findings of local and state police that Bishop's shooting of her brother was accidental. (continues here)
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