I know. It is April 2013, only three months after the second inauguration of President Obama, so why are we talking about politics? Well, the first and most important lesson of politics is that it never ends, and in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we have had a particularly eventful 2013. Senator Warren was sworn in early in January, and shortly thereafter Senator Kerry resigned to become Secretary of State, which is the position he presently holds. Governor Deval Patrick appointed Mo Cowan to serve as senator until a special election is held to fill Kerry’s seat. So in only 29 days the Democratic and Republican primaries will be held, with Representatives Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch vying for the nomination from the Democrats. On Tuesday, April 30, while all of us (hopefully still registered) University of Massachusetts students will be on campus, remember to go out and vote for Ed Markey for the Democratic nomination.

The latest polling suggests that Markey has a slight edge in the primary election and that the Democratic nominee will win handily against any Republican opponent. A poll held March 19-21 by WBUR shows Markey ahead 35 percent to 24 percent against Lynch, with a huge 41 percent remaining undecided. That same poll shows both Markey and Lynch defeating any Republican candidate 45 to 25 with 30 percent still undecided. An early March UMass Lowell-Boston Herald poll showed Markey leading Lynch 50 percent to 21 percent.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the first issue where Markey and Lynch diverge. While Markey is the solitary full-throated support of the ACA out of the five candidates, Lynch voted against the bill. Markey, on the other hand,  Markey called his vote in favor of it “the proudest vote of my career,” according to MassLive. Lynch’s concerns are warranted; he wanted a public option (and so did I), but he chose to vote against the ACA even with its provisions that not only protect persons with pre-existing conditions, but ensure that all children have health care, and stem the tide of family health care bankruptcy.

On LGBT rights, Stephen Lynch has been a lukewarm ally. While he has undergone an evolution on the issue similar to Bill Clinton and President Obama and supports same-sex marriage, he has not signed on to amicus briefs to the Supreme Court that provide legal reasoning for overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). His office blames the lack of Lynch’s signature on the briefs as an email error, but according to The Boston Globe, an anonymous aide for a senior Democratic House member said, “With the level of publicity around these, I find it very difficult to understand that that could possibly happen.”

Differences on climate change and the environment are clear just from their House of Representatives websites. Lynch’s summary on environmental issues discusses his advocacy for clean air, protecting the environment and moving away from fossil fuel dependency, but he does not have an extensive record on these issues. Markey, on the other hand, has served on the Natural Resources Committee since 1976, currently as the Democratic Ranking Member. He also specifically mentions his fight “to create new jobs in American clean energy” in the third sentence of his issue profile. Lynch has the strong beliefs on the environment, but Markey has strong credentials. Lynch has also not publically opposed the Keystone XL pipeline, according to Politico.

The issue of choice divides the two candidates as well. Ed Markey has been a staunch supporter of the right to choose for 30 years, while Lynch has continuously fought against that right. Beginning in 2002, Markey and Lynch were on opposite sides of the “partial-birth abortion” ban, with Markey voting against it. On the issue, Markey said, “A woman should have the right to consult with her family … physician … [and] conscience,” while Lynch stated, “[The] ban was a position taken by the American Medical Association,” according to WBUR. Markey voted against establishing an embryo or fetus as a person, while Lynch voted in favor of that definition. From 2002 to 2006, Lynch was also the only member of the Massachusetts delegation to vote against allowing women in the military to use private funds for abortions on overseas military bases. Finally, he voted to refuse abortion coverage for women with new subsidized health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Markey’s position was, “I did not believe there should be restrictions placed upon a woman’s right to have insurance,” according to WBUR.

Markey also has the support of many prominent Democrats, including former Senator and now Secretary of State John Kerry, who is being replaced through this special election. According to The Washington Post, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Senator Michael Benner (D-CO) said, “He is exactly the kind of leader Massachusetts needs in the US Senate.” With Scott Brown out of the race, there is no viable Republican contender and it is likely that the Democrat will win, so the Democratic establishment is attempting to endorse the person they think will be the best senator. In support of Markey, Kerry said, “[I] support [Markey’s] decision to run for the United States Senate. Ed’s one of the most experienced and capable legislators in the entire Congress and it would be… almost unprecedented… for such an accomplished legislator to join the Senate,” according to The Washington Post.

Ed Markey is the singular liberal candidate for the US Senate this year. Stephen Lynch is an honorable representative with a long career ahead of him in the House, but Ed Markey has loyally served the Commonwealth for almost 40 years in the House and has the requisite experience to be an exceptional senator. If you believe strongly that the environment should be protected, that the Affordable Care Act represented strong progress towards universal health care coverage, that women are equal to men and must have equally unfettered choice when it comes to health care, and that Massachusetts deserves the best senator it can elect, vote for Rep. Ed Markey.

If you would like to volunteer, check out the UMass for Markey Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @UMassforMarkey. The primary is on April 30, and the general election will be held on Tuesday, June 25; re-register at home or, if you’ll be in Amherst, go out and vote.

Correction: This articles’s original characterization of Markey’s position as a “life-long” supporter of the right-to-choose has been shown to be false. He became fully pro-choice in 1983, seven years after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Zac Bears is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].