Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley announced Tuesday that she will forgo a run for U.S. Senate in 2026 and seek reelection to the House of Representatives instead.
“Hearing from so many people from throughout our Commonwealth encouraging me to run for the United States Senate was deeply humbling and a testament to the strength of our movement,” Pressley said in a statement announcing her decision, which was first reported by the Boston Globe.
“It would be an honor to serve the whole Commonwealth — but with our daughter in her last year at home before college and a district that has been in the crosshairs of this White House, I am certain that the Massachusetts 7th is where I belong in this moment.
“That’s why I’m running for re-election to the House of Representatives — to continue building community, governing in close partnership and proximity to my constituents, and continue making progress for the district I’ve proudly represented for the past six years,” Pressley added. “Now, more than ever, is the time to dig deep, to lean into mutual aid, and to use every tool available to stand in the gap in defense of our neighbors and our democracy.”
Politico reported last month that Pressley was seriously considering a Senate run, which would have pitted her against both incumbent Democrat Ed Markey and Rep. Seth Moulton, who announced his own bid for the Senate in October.
Pressley was first elected to Congress in 2018 after winning a hard-fought primary against then-incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano, and has been a frequent champion of legislation to advance economic equity during her tenure in Washington, D.C. She is an unabashed progressive and a scathing critic of President Donald Trump, who she frequently refers to as “the current occupant of the White House.”
Recent polling suggests that a Senate primary contest between Pressley, Markey, and Moulton would have been intensely competitive, with Pressley and Markey virtually tied in one survey.
Broadly speaking, Pressley and Markey would have been expected to vie for the same set of progressive voters, with Pressley and Moulton each able to cast themselves as the voice of a new generation of political leadership.
Had she prevailed in the primary and the general election, Pressley — who was the first woman of color elected to Congress in Massachusetts in 2018 — would have become the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Senate in the Commonwealth.
