Biden-backed Dan Koh wins crowded primary in second bid for Congress

A former Biden administration aide just won a crowded primary race in Massachusetts, setting up a glide path to the House of Representatives come November.

Dan Koh came out first among six candidates to replace Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who ended his House tenure with a failed run for Senate against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that came to a conclusion Tuesday night.

Koh had the backing of both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, which was no surprise after his stint working in the White House. He first joined the administration as chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and later became deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

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But his successful Tuesday primary is not the first time Koh ran for Congress. He narrowly lost the Democratic nomination in Massachusetts’ nearby 3rd Congressional District to Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., in 2018.

Koh is running on progressive campaign promises like abolishing “Trump’s ICE” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and universal healthcare.

He’s now poised to succeed Moulton in the 6th Congressional District, which includes the northeastern portion of Massachusetts and is rated a safe blue seat.

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Moulton, who served in the Marine Corps, has represented the district since 2015.

His campaign for Senate has been marked by a bitter primary battle against Markey, an 80-year-old progressive who has been in office since 2013.

Moulton, 47, ran his campaign based on generational change and arguing that Markey had long missed his chance to substantively make life better for Massachusetts residents, but that wasn’t enough to stave him off Tuesday. 

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Markey is backed by the far left’s marquee names, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Meanwhile, Koh himself is a figure of the establishment left, with both his father and uncle also serving in the federal government.

His father, Howard Koh, was an assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under former President Barack Obama. His uncle served under the Obama and Clinton administrations.

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Koh now moves on to face Republican military veteran Micah Jones, who is running in his primary unopposed.