Washington, Nov 9 (IANS): The famed Kennedy family is back in US national politics after a two-year absence with the election of a great-nephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy to the US Congress.

Joe Kennedy III, a former prosecutor and Peace Corps member, will represent Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District, having handily defeated Republican opponent Sean Bielat, a businessman and Marine Corps reservist.

The seat became open when long time Democratic House member Barney Frank, who has been a leading proponent of financial regulations, announced he was retiring earlier this year. He had held the seat for the past 32 years.

Kennedy, 32, is the grandson of the slain former attorney general and New York senator Robert Kennedy and the son of six-term Congressman Joe Kennedy II. His great-uncles are the late President Kennedy and long-time Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who died in office in 2009.

Democratic Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island left office in January 2011, ending his family's 64-year streak of service in the US Congress.

A Harvard Law graduate, Joe Kennedy III most recently worked as an assistant district attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts.