Is John Kerry’s family the country’s newest political dynasty in-the-making?
Chris Heinz, one of Teresa’s Heinz-Kerry’s sons from her first marriage, is campaigning relentlessly to get Kerry elected— and may be setting the foundation for a political career of his own in the process.
When John Kerry became the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, 30-year-old Chris Heinz promptly quit his job working as a venture capitalist to work as a fundraiser and surrogate speaker for Kerry’s campaign.
Heinz is no stranger to politics. His father was Republican John Heinz who died in 1991 when his plane crashed with a helicopter in Pennsylvania. Although his death left Heinz a multi-millionaire, he continued to work hard, graduating from Yale and becoming a successful businessman.
The marriage between his mother and John Kerry merged their two houses into a modern day Brady Bunch. Heinz-Kerry had three sons from her previous marriage and Kerry had two daughters.
It not only united two families but two significantly different parties: Democrat and Republican.
Heinz accepted his step father quickly— they have a shared love of sports, history and even Yale educations. As their friendship blossomed, Heinz’s political views began to change and he noticed what he felt were many flaws in the GOP and saw the Democrat Party as a more fitting identity for himself.
Since Kerry’s bid for the presidency, Heinz’s days have been spent raising money, enlisting the help of campaign volunteers, setting the battleground states ablaze with the Kerry fervor and touring college campuses around Iowa.
Heinz, whose family nickname is “Pants,” (as in getting “too big for his britches”) was recently voted one of “People’s” 50 most eligible bachelors.
Deborah Norville sits down with Chris Heinz tonight at 9 p.m. to talk about his stepfather, the campaign, and his own political future.