Kennedy Sets Eyes on Frank's Congressional Seat

Joseph P. Kennedy III is making the final move in a bid to run for U.S. Representative Barney Frank's seat by opening an exploratory committee to raise money Boston.com reported this morning.

This hour Kennedy announced his resignation as a Middlesex County prosecutor with the District Attorney's office, according to MyFoxBoston.com.

Last March, Kennedy told the Cape Cod Times he would not run for a seat in congress. 

However, in November Rep. Frank, after 30 years in office, said he would not seek reelection after his district was redrawn with the new redistricting initiative, WPRI.com reported.

It was in November that Kennedy suggested he may seek candidacy. 

"Kennedy said he plans to meet in the coming weeks with residents of the 4th Congressional District before deciding whether to run for the seat," Cape Cod Times reported.

Kennedy joined the Barnstable District Attorney's office as an intern in 2008 and worked as assistant district attorney for two years. He graduated from Harvard with a law degree in 2009.

Kennedy provided the following statement to media outlets about his resignation form the attorney's office and an exploration of running for the 4th Congressional District. 

I am announcing today my intention to explore a candidacy for the United States Congress in the Fourth District of Massachusetts.

I look forward to reaching out to the residents of the Fourth District over the coming weeks, and I will look back on my work as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County - and before then, in Barnstable County - with great appreciation for the dedication of my colleagues and their commitment to equal justice under law. I loved my work in the courts and will remember its lessons as I seek the counsel of the citizens of the Fourth District.

One lesson that will stick with me from my time in the courts is how hard police, prosecutors and judges work together to achieve fairness. Fairness, the foundation of America's social compact, seems to be in short supply these days. We wage war, pass skewed tax breaks, and expand benefits by spendthrift borrowing, saddling the next generation of Americans with unsustainable debt. Then when it comes time to restoring fiscal sanity to our budget, we see the middle class and the poor take the hit while the wealthy get more tax breaks.

The lack of common sense and fairness in Washington is a byproduct of the partisan gridlock that has turned obstruction into victory. Americans are better than that. Each and every day, we work with people of different backgrounds and political views to achieve a common purpose. Washington can and should do the same.

My decision to look seriously at elected office is grounded in a deep commitment to public service and my experience - both my own and that of my family -- in finding just, practical, and bipartisan solutions to difficult challenges. It is a commitment instilled in me at a young age and one that inspired me to join the Peace Corps after college and to become a prosecutor after law school.

I have given my notice of resignation to the Middlesex District Attorney's office, and my work will wind down over the course of the next two weeks. I will then begin to reach out to the people of the Fourth District in order to hear directly from them about the challenges they are facing and their ideas on how we can restore fairness to our system. I will make a final decision about entering the race in the weeks thereafter.

I look forward to this new challenge, and to meeting people across the district in the weeks ahead.