A generational showdown in the Senate race
Massachusetts holds its primary elections on Tuesday, with the most closely watched contest pitting 80-year-old Senator Ed Markey, a progressive fixturein state politics since the 1970s, against 47-year-old Representative Seth Moulton, who has cast himself as the standard-bearer for generational change within the Democratic Party.
Moulton, first elected to Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District in 2014, has argued that the party is stuck in the "status quo" and questioned Markey's accomplishments over his long tenure.
"People ought to ask, what are you going to accomplish in the next six years that you haven't been able to accomplish in the last 50?" Moulton said during the campaign.
Markey, who was elected to the Senate in 2013 after representing the state's 7th Congressional District for decades, has pushed back by pointing to his record, including a 2022 climate bill, and has argued that it is Moulton——not the older incumbent——who is out of touch with Massachusetts voters. Markey has also criticized Moulton for opposing "Medicare for All," though Moulton has called for universal healthcare. Markey has called for an end to the war in Iran to bring down energy costs.
Endorsements and fundraising
Markey has secured endorsements from leading progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as from most members of the state's congressional delegation, including Senator Elizabeth Warren. No members of the delegation have endorsed Moulton, whose supporters include New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and the Democratic organization VoteVets. The Boston Globe's editorial board is also behind Moulton, describing him as having "proven leadership skills" and positions on key issues that align with voters.
Markey has a nearly $2 million fundraising advantage over Moulton, and recent polls have shown him leading by a double-digit margin. The primary winner is heavily favored to win in November in a state that Democrat Kamala Harris carried by nearly 25 percentage points in 2024.
Moulton's campaign has been complicated by his 2024 remarks about transgender children, for which he has apologized. He launched a presidential campaign in 2020 but dropped out before the primaries.
A similar dynamic in the House races
The generational challenge extends beyond the Senate race. In the 8th Congressional District, attorney Patrick Roath, 39, is challenging longtime incumbent Representative Stephen Lynch, 71. Roath, a progressive, has earned the endorsement of The Boston Globe's editorial board, which wrote that the younger candidate "gives every indication he can do better, think bigger, and aim higher as a member of Congress" than Lynch, whom the board referred to as "backbench representation."
Roath has outraised Lynch, $1.3 million to $910,000, and has narrowed the gap in polling. A survey conducted for Leaders We Deserve, a group that has endorsed Roath, found Lynch's lead had fallen to seven percentage points. A February poll conducted for Roath showed him trailing by 26 points, while Lynch was reelectedin 2024 by a 50-point margin.
In the 1st Congressional District of western Massachusetts, progressive public school teacher Jeromie Whalen is running against Representative Richard Neal. Whalen has been endorsed by a progressive organization founded by Senator Bernie Sanders.
Democrats hold all nine of Massachusetts' House seats and both Senate seats, making the primaries the decisive contests in the state. The outcomes will offer an early read on whether the party's leftward drift and desire for fresh faces that have animated races elsewhere are reshaping politicsin one of the nation's most reliably Democratic states.