Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is hospitalized in Boston, reportedly with symptoms of a stroke, according to several media reports.

The 76-year old patriarch of the Kennedys and a long time liberal voice in the Senate had been rushed from the family compound in Hyannisport to Cape Cod Hospital at 9 a.m. this morning and then airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital, said the Associated Press citing a hospital spokesman.

CNN quoted “a prominent Democratic source” in Massachusetts as saying that Kennedy showed “symptoms of a stroke.”

Kennedy’s office released a statement saying: “Senator Kennedy went to Cape Cod Hospital this morning after feeling ill at his home. After discussion with his doctors in Boston, Senator Kennedy was sent to Massachusetts General Hospital for further examination. He is currently under evaluation, and information will be released as it becomes available.”

Kennedy, who has held his Senate seat since 1962, had surgery last October to clear a partially blocked carotid artery in his neck, an obstruction that doctors discovered during a routine check of his back and spine. Kennedy has suffered back problems since being involved in a 1964 plane crash.

Kennedy is the second most senior senator in the current 110th Congress, behind only West Virginia Democrat Robert C. Byrd , and the third longest-serving senator in history, behind Byrd and South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond (1954-56, 1956-2003).