Markey Holds Off Moulton to Win Massachusetts Senate Primary

Sen. Ed Markey has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, turning back a challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton and handing the party's progressive wing another victory over those pressing for generational change in Washington.

Markey, who turned 80 in July, ran the campaign he has run before: not against his own age, but on the length of the record behind it. First elected to Congress in 1976, he spent the primary pointing voters at his support for Medicare for All, his opposition to President Trump's defense budget plans and his backing for higher taxes on the wealthy.

Moulton, in elected office since 2014, made the opposite argument. He cast himself as the younger alternative and repeatedly called for a new generation of leadership in the Senate. Polling in the closing weeks never showed the case landing. Markey held a clear lead throughout, and primary voters told surveyors they felt more strongly about his agenda than about his date of birth.

The senator campaigned with the endorsements of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, an alliance that has become the spine of his political operation.

A campaign that turned personal

The race sharpened in its final month. During an August debate, Markey accused his opponent of failing to defend transgender rights, citing a 2024 remark by Moulton about girls' sports that drew widespread criticism at the time. Moulton apologized during the campaign for comments he said had hurt people, and restated his support for LGBTQ rights.

It is the second time Markey has beaten a younger challenger on these terms. In 2020 he defeated Rep. Joe Kennedy III in a primary fought over much the same question of whether a long progressive record outweighs the case for new leadership.

Markey now faces Republican attorney John Deaton in November. Massachusetts has not sent a Republican to the Senate since 2013, and independent race ratings put the seat firmly in Democratic hands, making the incumbent the heavy favorite to win a fifth full term.