In the long arc of democratic renewal, Massachusetts chose continuity over change — returning eighty-year-old Senator Ed Markey to the ballot after he defeated younger congressman Seth Moulton in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Where Moulton offered the promise of a new generation, Markey offered something the deep-blue state found more compelling: an uncompromising progressive identity, ratified by the endorsements of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez and anchored by a willingness to say what most of his party would not. The result raises enduring questions about whether political longevity is a liabil
Markey defeats Moulton in Mass. Senate primary, doubles down on trans athletes stance
Trans athletes should be able to play. That reflects Massachusetts.
Mark
Why did Markey's position on trans athletes matter so much in this race? It seems like a risky stance for a Democrat.
Mimi
In Massachusetts, it wasn't risky at all. The state is deep blue—hasn't elected a Republican senator in over a decade. Markey could afford to take a bold progressive stance because his general election opponent will almost certainly be a Republican, and Massachusetts voters aren't going to punish him for it.
Luke
But let's be precise about what happened. Markey didn't win because of his trans athletes position. He won because he had progressive credentials, major endorsements from Sanders and AOC, and he was the incumbent. The trans stance was part of how he differentiated himself from Moulton, but we shouldn't overstate its role.
Mark
So Moulton's argument about his daughters—that he was afraid to say what he believed—didn't resonate?
Mimi
Not in Massachusetts. Moulton was trying to appeal to a broader Democratic coalition, but in a primary in a very progressive state, that argument fell flat. Markey's message was: I'm the real progressive, and I'm not afraid to say it.
Luke
And we should note that Moulton's position isn't actually that uncommon among Democrats. Many have concerns about fairness in sports. But Moulton was running in a primary where the electorate skews progressive, and that hurt him.
Mark
Is this a sign that progressives are winning within the Democratic Party?
Mimi
In Massachusetts, yes. Markey beat back a generational challenge by being more progressive, not less. That's significant.
Luke
But it's also important to remember that this is Massachusetts. Markey's victory doesn't necessarily tell us much about what's happening in swing states or less progressive parts of the country. And nationally, there's still real pressure on Democrats to address generational leadership—Biden's exit showed that.
El Pulso
- Moulton's generational challenge — built on the argument that five decades in Congress is simply too long — collapsed within an hour of polls closing, a swift verdict from a state that has heard this argument before.
- Markey's decision to openly support transgender athletes in sports created a fault line inside the primary, with Moulton invoking his two daughters and Markey invoking the soul of Massachusetts itself.
- Progressive heavyweights Sanders and AOC threw their weight behind Markey, transforming what could have been an age story into an ideological loyalty test — and the base answered clearly.
- Nationally, the primary lands awkwardly: as Democrats elsewhere scramble to soften their positions on cultural issues and younger candidates topple aging incumbents, Massachusetts moved in the opposite direction.
- Markey's November path looks safe in a state that hasn't sent a Republican to the Senate in over a decade, but his victory quietly complicates the party's broader effort to project generational renewal.
In the long arc of democratic renewal, Massachusetts chose continuity over change — returning eighty-year-old Senator Ed Markey to the ballot after he defeated younger congressman Seth Moulton in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Where Moulton offered the promise of a new generation, Markey offered something the deep-blue state found more compelling: an uncompromising progressive identity, ratified by the endorsements of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez and anchored by a willingness to say what most of his party would not. The result raises enduring questions about whether political longevity is a liability or, in the right soil, still a form of credibility.
Ed Markey, eighty years old and nearly five decades into his congressional career, turned back Seth Moulton's challenge in Massachusetts' Democratic Senate primary — a race called by the Associated Press less than an hour after polls closed. Moulton had staked his campaign on the idea that the moment demanded new leadership. Markey answered not with apology, but with conviction.
The sharpest contrast between the two men emerged over transgender athletes in sports. While most Democrats have stayed quiet on the issue as Republicans wield it as a midterm weapon, Markey told The New York Times plainly that transgender athletes should be able to compete. 'That reflects Massachusetts and who we are,' he said. Moulton, citing his two young daughters, argued the opposite — and noted the pressure within his own party to stay silent on the matter.
In a state that last elected a Republican senator in 2013, Markey's position carried little electoral risk and considerable ideological reward. Co-author of the Green New Deal and endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he made progressive authenticity the answer to every question about his age.
This is the second time Markey has defeated a younger challenger making the same generational argument — Joe Kennedy III lost to him in 2020 under nearly identical circumstances. Yet the national picture is more complicated. Elsewhere, longtime incumbents are falling: Connecticut's seventy-eight-year-old John Larson lost his primary to a candidate nearly thirty years his junior. Markey's survival, then, is not a trend — it is an exception, shaped by the particular values of one state and the particular stubbornness of one senator.
Ed Markey, eighty years old and representing Massachusetts in Congress for nearly five decades, defeated Seth Moulton's bid to unseat him in Tuesday's Democratic Senate primary. The Associated Press called the race less than an hour after polls closed. Moulton, a younger congressman, had built his campaign around generational change—the argument that it was time for new leadership in the Senate. Markey countered by leaning hard into his progressive record and, notably, by taking a stance on transgender athletes that most Democrats have avoided this cycle.
Markey told The New York Times that transgender athletes should be able to compete in sports. "That reflects Massachusetts and who we are," he said. "And Seth Moulton does not." The position is unusual among Democrats running in 2024. Republicans have made transgender rights in sports a centerpiece of their midterm messaging, while most Democrats have stayed quiet on the issue as they work to flip both chambers of Congress. Moulton had argued the opposite way. He said he has two young daughters and doesn't want them competing against male or formerly male athletes. "But as a Democrat I'm supposed to be afraid to say that," he said at one point during the campaign.
Markey's willingness to stake out this ground—and his victory—reflects the particular politics of Massachusetts. The state hasn't elected a Republican senator since 2013, when Scott Brown lost to Elizabeth Warren. In a deep-blue state, Markey's position on transgender athletes is unlikely to cost him in November's general election. Instead, it allowed him to claim the mantle of authentic progressivism against a challenger who was trying to position himself as the future of the party.
The primary victory also represents a win for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Markey co-authored the Green New Deal resolution years ago and secured endorsements from Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. These backing mattered. Moulton's campaign had made age a central issue, but Markey's progressive credentials and high-profile support proved stronger than the generational argument.
This is not the first time Markey has fended off a younger challenger. In 2020, he defeated Joe Kennedy III, a member of the famous Massachusetts political family, in another primary that centered on whether it was time for new leadership in the Senate. Kennedy's loss to Markey then, and Moulton's loss now, suggest that in Massachusetts at least, voters are willing to stick with an incumbent if that incumbent can credibly claim to represent their values. Yet the broader picture is more complicated. Across the country, some longtime incumbents have fallen to younger candidates—Connecticut congressman John Larson, seventy-eight, lost to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, forty-seven, in his primary. Markey's victory, then, stands somewhat apart from a national trend toward generational turnover in Democratic politics, a trend that intensified after the chaos surrounding President Joe Biden's attempt to run for a second term.
Citas Notables
Trans athletes should be able to play. That reflects Massachusetts and who we are.— Ed Markey, to The New York Times
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.— Seth Moulton, during the campaign
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