80-year-old Dem beats back generational challenge after going all-in on trans athletes
One of the only Democrats stumping for transgender rights on the campaign trail fought back a younger challenger pushing generational change in the Senate.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., withstood a challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., to again be crowned as Massachusetts’ Democratic nominee for Senate in his quest for a third full term on Tuesday night. The Associated Press projected Markey would defeat Moulton less than an hour after polls closed.
Markey, who has represented Massachusetts in Congress for nearly five decades, survived Moulton’s campaign focused on generational change by leaning into his progressive bona fides. Notably, he is one of the few Democrats running this midterm cycle who is continuing to push for transgender rights, particularly in sports.
"Trans athletes should be able to play," Markey told The New York Times. "That reflects Massachusetts and who we are. And Seth Moulton does not."
The position, which has been used by Republicans as a political rallying cry on the campaign trail and one that Democrats have largely remained quiet about as they push to flip both chambers of Congress, is one that Moulton argued played a major factor in Democrats’ losing across the board in 2024.
"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 said at the time.
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Given Massachusetts’ position as a deep-blue bastion — the Bay State hasn’t had a Republican senator since 2013; former Sen. Scott Brown lost to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — it’s unlikely that Markey’s position will cost him in November.
And his primary victory marks another win for progressives. Markey, who co-authored the Green New Deal resolution years ago, boasted the backing of progressive titans, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
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It also serves as a blow to a broader push among Democrats across the country looking for generational change, particularly after the tumult that followed former President Joe Biden and his attempt to run for a second term in the White House.
Though longtime incumbents have been defeated, including Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., 78, by the much younger Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 47, Markey was able to hold on despite Moulton making age a key factor in his campaign.
For his own part, Moulton, after losing the primary on Tuesday evening, said he viewed his campaign as a necessary challenge to even the party's most tenured figures.
"Challenging the establishment and calling for a new generation of leadership isn’t easy, but it is necessary. I will continue to push the Democratic Party — and our country — to look towards the future," Moulton said in a statement.
Markey’s victory over Moulton isn’t the first time that a younger candidate has stepped into the arena only to be felled by the octogenarian.
Markey bested Massachusetts political royalty in 2020, beating former Rep. Joe Kennedy III in a primary contest that, like his contentious battle against Moulton, centered on a changing of the guard in the upper chamber.