Letter By Made-Up Natick Man A Twist In Markey-Kennedy Race

NATICK, MA — A strange moment in the race primary race between U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III is coming to light, and it involves a made-up Natick man, the Framingham mayor, and a host of other local officials.

According to Commonwealth Magazine, a lawyer recently wrote a letter to Democratic party officials posing as a Natick man named "Stephen Acab." The letter criticized Kennedy's affiliation with the Stanford University Kappa Alpha fraternity, whose chapters have been linked to racist events.

Local Kennedy supporters, including Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer and several Worcester City Councilors, responded in a letter asking Markey to disavow Stephen Acab's letter. Acab, it turns out, is a Boston lawyer named Stephen Bedell, according to Commonwealth.

The Kennedy-Markey race is pitting Democrat against Democrat in Massachusetts. Many have questioned why Kennedy would challenge Markey since they both align on so many issues, although Markey has been endorsed by more progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement and Planned Parenthood.

The Acab letter is at least the third odd turn in the race this month.

Several weeks ago, Kennedy announced a fundraiser where supporters could pay $5 to watch Broadway stars perform in support of the Congressman. But Markey supporters took to Twitter to ask the Broadway stars to reconsider, and some did decide to back out. A statement from the Kennedy campaign called it an act of "cyber-bullying."

And this week, the Kennedy campaign emailed supporters criticizing Markey for ignoring the towns Dana, Enfield, and Prescott. Except, those towns don't exist anymore because they were flooded in the 1940s to create the Quabbin Reservoir.

Kennedy and Markey will face off in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary. The winner will go on to the November general election.