80-Year-Old Sen. Ed Markey Holds Off Younger Challenger in Democratic Primary
· Time
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts won the Democratic primary race for his seat on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from the decades-younger Rep. Seth Moulton as he seeks another six-year term in the upper chamber.
The Associated Press called the race at around 8:31 p.m. ET.
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As of early Wednesday morning, with around 96% of the ballots counted, Markey had 64.9% of the vote to Moulton's 35.1%.
“Massachusetts needs a Senator who stands up and fights back, a Senator who never forgets who they are fighting for,” Markey told the crowd during his victory speech. “That has been the mission of my life, and it always will be.”
A "generational showdown"
Tuesday’s primary was considered by many to be a “generational showdown” between Markey, 80, and Moulton, 47.
During the campaign, Moulton contended that it was time for change in the state's political representation.
“Massachusetts has a choice: settle for the status quo, or demand better,” he said in a social media post Tuesday morning.
The young moderate rose in the polls earlier this year, narrowing the gap between himself and the two-term incumbent. But in the month or so leading up to Tuesday’s primary, polls showed that Markey had regained ground, and was holding a comfortable double-digit lead.
This isn’t the first time Markey, who served in the House for nearly 37 years before winning a seat in the Senate in 2013, has held off a younger primary challenger. In his last reelection bid, the then-74-year-old Senator defeated then-Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, who is 34 years his junior, to advance to the November ballot.
Progressives notch another primary victory
Markey has built up a long progressive record over his years in Congress, co-sponsoring the Green New Deal alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and championing left-wing positions on an array of issues. And he made that record—as well as his extensive experience—a focus of his campaign. Markey argued during the primary that Moulton’s stances on various issues don't align with those of their constituents in deep-blue Massachusetts, saying that “there’s only one progressive in this race” and that “we don’t just need a democratic majority in the Senate. We need a progressive majority.”
“It’s not about your age, it’s about the age of your ideas. And I am the youngest guy in this race when it comes to ideas,” Markey told POLITICO. “Democrats want a victory this November. But then they want, beginning next January … a progressive vision turned into reality on the floor of the House and Senate.”
Markey, a staunch and vocal supporter of transgender rights, criticized Moulton for comments he made about transgender athletes in the aftermath of the 2024 election. In an interview with the New York Times in 2024, Moulton said, “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Moulton has since apologized, saying during a debate last month, “If you’re in the trans community or you’re a trans kid feeling the weight of the Trump Administration and the Supreme Court, you matter.” The Congressman also told POLITICO over the weekend, “I never intended to hurt anybody with my comments,” but went on to say, “I absolutely do not apologize for starting a debate that we need to be willing to have in the Democratic Party.”
Markey is the latest of a number of progressives who have emerged victorious in recent races. Last month, Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, while other progressives earned the party’s nominations in key House races in the state. And Democratic socialists have scored wins in several high-profile contests in the past year, with Zohran Mamdani—who sent shockwaves through the Democratic establishment when he won the New York City mayoral race in November—perhaps most prominent among them.
Markey will next face the uncontested Republican nominee, John Deaton, a lawyer who previously unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren for her seat in Congress. But Democrats are expected to keep the Senate seat in November; the Cook Political Report rates the race as “Solid Democrat,” ranking it among the seats it considers least likely to flip in the upcoming midterms.
