June 7, 2008 — Ed O’Reilly - the first primary challenger Sen. John F. Kerry has had since winning the seat in 1984 - threatens to give the junior senator a real tussle; one likely to keep the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee pinned down in Massachusetts and off the stump for the 2008 nominee, Barack Obama.
O’Reilly, 55, a Gloucester lawyer, has a sense of humor, a blue-collar background and a penchant for challenging authority. One of six kids who grew up in his dad’s World War II veterans’ housing unit, he’s been a factory worker, firefighter, lobsterman, bank teller, prison guard and city councilor. He worked his way through UMass-Amherst and the New England School of Law.
