Joe Kennedy Kicking Off Re-Election Bid

Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy is kicking off his re-election campaign.

Kennedy is in his first term. He was elected in 2012 to fill U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's old seat.

Kennedy planned to hold a kick-off party in Taunton Saturday for supporters and volunteers.

The Brookline resident is the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and son of Joseph P. Kennedy II, who represented the state's 8th Congressional District. He graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School, served in the Peace Corps and worked as a prosecutor.

That 2012 win marked the return of a Kennedy family member to public office in Washington after a brief two-year hiatus.

At least one Kennedy had served in Congress or the White House from 1946 through 2010, when former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, of Rhode Island, chose not to seek re-election.