Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey defeated Rep. Seth Moulton in a sharply contested Democratic primary Tuesday.
The incumbent senator will face Republican John Deaton in November.
While Moulton made generational change the focus of his campaign — he is 47, and Markey is 80 — Markey won by casting himself as a champion of the party’s younger, left-leaning activists.
“Tonight is a testament to the power of the progressive movement of our nation,” Markey said in his victory speech in downtown Boston. “It is a progressive movement fueled by young people demanding more from their leaders, and it’s your voices that are the ones we need to hear right now.”
Markey promised on the campaign trail in 2026 that this six-year term would be his last.
It was the second consecutive Senate election cycle in which Markey fended off a significantly younger challenger. He defeated then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III in 2020.
As of 5:45 a.m., with 96% of the votes counted, Markey was leading with 65% of the vote compared to 35% for Moulton.
Tali Zechory, a Markey supporter from Cambridge, cited his support for the transgender community.
“I think he’s a great champion of progressive causes,” Zechory said of Markey. “I think he’s not afraid to stand up for those more vulnerable and targeted, especially when those communities can become so easily scapegoated.”
Zechory said she was referring to Moulton’s controversial comments in an interview with the New York Times in 2024, in an article when Democratic leaders and insiders were deconstructing why Kamala Harris fell to President Donald Trump.
“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 told the Times in 2024.
Laurie and Raymond Ball, a Newton couple, were also in attendance at Markey’s primary-night gathering in downtown Boston. Like Zechory, they’d never been to a politics watch party before.
Laurie Ball, who was wearing an LGBTQ+ Star of David, said she’s supporting Markey because their child is a trans young adult. She said she’s grateful to Markey for his impassioned support of the transgender community.
“Moulton made a mistake,” she said.
While Moulton has consistently voted in support of LGBTQ+ issues and offered a qualified apology to the transgender community for his remarks in a debate this summer, he struggled to regain trust with LGBTQ+ supporters ever since his remarks to the Times.
Raymond Ball, a retired environmental engineer, also liked that Markey was a strong supporter of the Green New Deal.
The significance that trans rights played in the primary contest was underscored by the first speaker to introduce Markey — Tyler Hack, the executive director of the Christopher Street Project, which works to build trans political power.
Hack called Markey a steadfast ally at a time when other politicians seem to see trans rights as negotiable.
“To every trans kid who’s watching today, Massachusetts has a message for you,” Hack said. “You are going to grow up, and there are people will fight like hell to make sure you are able to. One of them is Senator Ed Markey.”
At Moulton’s party in Dorchester, the North Shore congressman took the stage to address his supporters.
“I just called Senator Markey to congratulate him on his victory tonight,” Moulton told the crowd. “He has my full support as our Democratic nominee, and we must stand united this November to protect our democracy and defeat Donald Trump.
“We entered this race as the underdog, and while tonight’s outcome isn’t what we worked so hard to achieve, I could not be prouder of the campaign we built together,” Moulton said. “Challenging the establishment and calling for a new generation of leadership isn’t easy, but it is necessary. We started conversations that needed to happen, and I will never stop pushing the Democratic Party and our country to look toward the future.”
Moulton’s backers are disappointed.
“I hope he runs again. He has so much to give,” Nancy Perkins, a retired music therapist from Andover, told GBH News.
All over the union hall, supporters are saying the same thing: “Seth just has to run again.”
