Nonprofit Leader Loses Senate Bid, Vows to Fight for Economic Equity

Alan Khazei, the veteran national-service advocate, lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts on Tuesday but said he would continue mobilizing for social change by returning to his former role as nonprofit leader.

Mr. Khazei, who came in third in a Democratic primary for the seat vacated by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, said in a concession speech that he planned to return to Be the Change, the nonprofit group in Boston he founded in 2007, and ramp up an antipoverty campaign called OpportunityNation.

Saying he had met many people suffering from economic hardship during the campaign, he urged supporters to join him in a movement to “restore equity and fairness to the middle class and low-income people.”

Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general, won the primary, and U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano came in second. With little name recognition and an abbreviated campaign, Mr. Khazei, co-founder of the youth-service corps City Year, was always a long shot. However, he chalked up some successes, including raising $1-million in the first two weeks of the campaign and winning the endorsement of The Boston Globe.

Mr. Khazei’s campaign focused on a theme of “big citizenship” — to counter “big government” and “big business” — and touted his leadership of City Year and work with Senator Kennedy to expand national-service programs.

In a letter to colleagues, Bill McClements, acting president of Be the Change, said he hoped Mr. Khazei’s campaign would inspire other nonprofit leaders to seek national office. “Alan’s campaign highlighted a void of social-entrepreneurial experience in Washington that we hope one day will be filled,” he said.

To read more about Mr. Khazei, see The Chronicle’s articles about his campaign and his work leading Be the Change.