Kennedy and Bielat to Face off for Fourth Congressional District Seat

Updated Sept. 7, 12:43 a.m. with a statement from Herb Robinson.

Updated Sept. 6, 11:59 p.m. with statement from Elizabeth Childs. 

After months of campaigning across a large and newly redrawn district, the pool of Fourth Congressional District candidates has officially been whittled down from six to two.

Democrat  and Republican  will be the two names on the November ballot for the Fourth Congressional District, according to reports from the Associated Press.

Despite the low voter turnout, Kennedy had a landslide victory against his two opponents, and , taking more than 90 percent of the vote according to AP reports. 

"Tonight, I am honored to accept the Democratic nomination for the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts," Kennedy said in an emailed statement.

"First and foremost, I’d like to thank the more than 3,000 volunteers who made tonight possible. Together we knocked on over 40,000 doors, made nearly 175,000 phone calls, held over 200 events across the Fourth District and built an organization that can't be matched. And we’re just getting started," Kennedy said.

Kennedy is a former assistant district attorney for the Cape and Islands as well as Middlesex County. He is the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and the son of former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, who represented the Eighth Congressional District from 1987-1999.

And for the second time in two years, voters will see Bielat's name on the ballot for the Fourth District; the Norfolk Republican ran against Barney Frank in 2010. 

"Thank you for going to the polls today and supporting my race for Congress. Tonight, Hope and I are honored to have the support of voters in the primary election for the Fourth District. We credit this victory to our volunteers who continue to amaze us each day with their creativity, dedication and passion," Bielat said in an emailed statement.

Bielat, a former U.S. Marine, managed to defeat fellow Republicans  and with more than 70 percent of the vote, the AP reported. 

In a concession statement emailed Thursday night, Childs said that the primary race was "hard fought" and that the different viewpoints between candidates were "healthy for democracy."

"I went into this race with a clear objective to bring Republicans, Democrats and Independents together to solve our nations economic problems, and it's a message that I will continue to fight for if we are going to get American working again," said Childs said. 

Robinson, an engineer from Newton, also issued a brief statement about the race Thursday.

"I would like to congratulate all the winners in today's primary and, most importantly, I would like to thank the voters who took time from their busy schedules to come out and vote for me," Robinson said via email. 

The winner of November's Fourth District race will replace veteran Congressman Barney Frank. The 16-term Democrat . 

Shortly after Frank's announcement, names started flying around with potential replacements and at one point, the race had as many as nine potential candidates. 

Bielat announced his candidacy in January,

Launching his campaign in February, Kennedy was the last candidate to enter the race, before the official announcement. 

Fourth District voters will determine their next congressman during the general election on Nov. 6, 2012.