The 2020 political season has delivered a lot of curve balls, and here’s another: for the first time in US history, a Kennedy has lost an election in Massachusetts. Senator Edward Markey’s ability to beat back a challenge from Congressman Joe Kennedy III in the state’s Democratic primary Tuesday was a tribute to the incumbent’s skill at organising progressive activists behind him against a scion of a storied political family. It was also a tribute to a broader political dynamic that reaches beyond Massachusetts and the Democratic Party: the loosening grip of family dynasties in American politics. In both parties, the Old Guard has been challenged by the rise of populist movements: the white nationalism that brought Donald Trump to power in the Republican Party, and the multiracial progressivism that nearly gave Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders the Democratic presidential nomination. America’s newest aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy christened as China boosts fleet With the rise of those anti-establishment forces, some of the most famous names in politics have been thrown to the sidelines in the last five years: Clinton. Bush. Romney. Being a Kennedy in Massachusetts gave the 39-year-old the momentum, money and political connections to have a good shot at unseating Markey, a 74-year-old who has served more than four decades in Congress. But it was not enough to get Kennedy over the finish line. Three hours after polls closed Tuesday, Markey was declared the winner in one of the nation’s most hotly contested primaries. “The Kennedy name has lost some of its magic in the Bay state,” said Jim Manley, a long-time adviser to the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, who was Joe Kennedy’s grand uncle. “Things are changing and a political dynasty doesn’t mean what it used to.” Markey is all but guaranteed to win re-election this fall in the heavily Democratic state. Kennedy loses his House seat, which will leave Congress without any members of the Kennedy clan for only the second time in 73 years. (There were no Kennedys seated there in 2011-12). Two members of Kennedy family missing, presumed dead after US canoe trip Political dynasties are fading at the presidential level as well. In each of the last eight presidential contests, the line-up of major candidates has included a member of the Bush, Clinton or Romney families. Many had expected the 2016 race to be a clash of dynasties, when former first lady Hillary Clinton seemed likely to face off against Jeb Bush, brother and son of presidents. But Trump, a businessman outsider with no political pedigree, beat them both. The previous Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney – son of the Michigan governor who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 1968 – has been sidelined by his own party because of his outspoken criticism of Trump. Plenty of legacy politicians remain on the scene, but their pathways are not unobstructed. Donald Trump Jnr may try to succeed his father in 2024, but many ambitious Republicans have the same idea. Liz Cheney, daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, is in the House Republican leadership and has designs on moving up – although she faces resistance from Trump loyalists over her occasional criticism of the president. Kennedy curse: granddaughter of RFK dies aged 22 of suspected drug overdose New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – son of the late Governor Mario Cuomo – is seen as a possible presidential contender, but his centrist pragmatism puts him at odds with progressives and he chose not to run in 2020. No family has a legacy as broad and deep as the Kennedy clan, which has produced one president, two senators, and three House members. Most came from Massachusetts. None of them ever lost a race there. Until Tuesday. “We may have lost the final vote count tonight but we built a coalition that will endure,” he said. “I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat.” Markey will face the winner of the Republican primary, Kevin O’Connor, in November. Additional reporting by Associated Press