Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton (D), at left (credit: Seth Moulton Facebook)
Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton kicked off a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey on Wednesday, explicitly painting the long-time incumbent as “too old” in comments to the Washington Post.
Markey, 79, has served in Congress since winning a House seat in 1976, though it wasn’t until 2013 that he earned a promotion to the upper chamber in a special election to replace John Kerry, who resigned to become Barack Obama’s secretary of state.
During his long career, Markey has established himself as an outspoken liberal and has focused heavily on combating climate change. While he’s seldom faced difficult reelection campaigns, he turned back another primary challenger five years ago when he defeated Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy by a 55-45 margin.
Like Moulton, who is 46, the much younger Kennedy (at the time 39) presented himself as an agent of generational change. But despite his famous name, Kennedy struggled to match Markey’s liberal bona fides and his support from figures like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a host of the best-known progressive organizations.
It’s a problem the centrist Moulton will face as well. Moulton, a Marine veteran, first won Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District by knocking off a tarnished Democratic incumbent, John Tierney. His subsequent attempts to take on much bigger targets, however, have fallen well short.
After Democrats regained the House in 2018, Moulton led an ill-fated plot to stop Nancy Pelosi from once again becoming speaker. After that gambit failed (Moulton even wound up voting for Pelosi to reclaim her old job), he then sought to run for president. After a desultory few months in which he didn’t qualify for any debates, he abandoned ship.
In announcing his latest bid, Moulton leaned heavily into the age gap between the two candidates in his launch video.
“We’re in a crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Sen. Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old,” he said. “Even more, I don’t think someone who’s been in Congress for half a century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future.” (Markey will turn 80 next year.)
But Moulton’s more moderate record may not appeal to primary voters. In particular, he generated a firestorm of criticism from fellow Democrats shortly after last year’s presidential election when he expressed his opposition to allowing transgender kids to play in girls’ sports—and hostility toward his party for allegedly suppressing such views.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” he told 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.”
Despite the hostile response, which included the resignation of a top aide, Moulton remained defiant, declaring, “The backlash proves my point.” He also dared his critics to challenge him at the ballot box, saying, “Good luck, I mean, run against me if you want.”
Now, before a much larger electorate, those critics will get the chance to unite against him.
SETH MOULTON:
