Lynch Predicts Major Upset in Massachusetts Senate Primary

Trailing by double digits in most public opinion polls, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch bravely predicted a come-from-behind victory in his long-shot quest for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination against U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey in Massachusetts on Tuesday.

Lynch, who also forecast a 23 percent turnout in the primary, made his prediction while speaking with a Boston Globe reporter on Friday during a commute to Norwood where he was scheduled to make several campaign appearances.

Buoyed by what he sees as a late surge in support in some of the state’s medium-sized cities, including New Bedford, Fall River, Everett and Lawrence, the 58-year-old pro-union lawmaker — a former ironworker-turned-lawyer now serving in his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives — boldly predicted that he would defeat his heavily-favored Democratic rival by five percentage points.

A Public Policy Polling survey released Thursday showed Markey, a 37-year House veteran, with a commanding 14-point lead over Lynch — 50 percent to 36 percent.   A poll released last week by WNEU/MassLive.com/WSHM put the margin at 10 percent.  The WNEU poll, conducted between April 11-18, showed 23 percent of likely primary voters were still undecided.

Lynch’s own internal polling reportedly shows the race much closer than that.  Bolstered by strong support in working-class neighborhoods and signs of growing support among independent voters, he believes he has a sporting chance to pull off an upset on Tuesday.

Lynch, who is being vastly outspent by Markey — raising less than half the $4,759,928 reported by his opponent as of April 10, according to the latest FEC filings — has made jobs and infrastructure a major focus of his campaign.

“I think that we have allowed a lot of our core infrastructure — roads, bridges, rail systems — really to deteriorate,” says Lynch, who was raised in a public housing project in South Boston.   “That used to be a point of pride and competitive advantage for the United States and I think we’ve let that fall away.  Ironically, I think that’s exactly what we need right now is to focus on putting people back to work.   I don’t think there’s a partisan way of looking at a bridge or a road…”

The winner of the widely-watched Lynch-Markey race will face the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary between private equity financier and former Navy SEAL Gabriel E. Gomez, former U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, and state Representative Daniel P. Winslow.