'Worchester' Gives Joe Kennedy III Campaign Its Support

WORCHESTER, MA — This weekend, supporters of U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III did something that many non-Massachusetts residents have probably been doing forever: mispronouncing the word "Worcester."

On Sunday, an ad supporting Kennedy paid for by the IBEW Local 103 union (which is based in Boston, ahem) appeared in the Worcester Telegram. In it, the hometown name is spelled "Worchester."

"For U.S. Senate. For Massachusetts. For Worchester," the ad reads.

It's unclear who made the massive Massachusetts-specific typo. The IBEW told the Boston Herald that the Telegram had apologized to the union for the error. But a Telegram spokesperson, in turn, told the Herald that the paper wasn't responsible for the misspelling.

The ad was paid for by the union, not Kennedy's campaign. But the Markey campaign didn't let the error slide, with Markey campaign manager John Walsh zinging IBEW chief Lou Antonellis on Twitter.

This is at least the second flap involving communities in central Massachusetts since the Kennedy-Markey race heated up this summer. The Kennedy campaign emailed supporters criticizing Markey for ignoring the towns Dana, Enfield and Prescott — but those towns don't exist anymore because they were flooded in the 1940s to create the Quabbin Reservoir.

The race between the two prominent Democrats will come to a head on Tuesday. Read the Patch 2020 Worcester primary guide to learn about where to vote and who's on the ballot.