TIME’S NOT UP

Senate Dem, 80, Beats Challenger 30 Years Younger

Ed Markey dispatched a congressman who largely ran on generational change.

Progressive Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey fended off a challenge by Rep. Seth Moulton in a race that inverted a 2026 trend of younger Democratic primary candidates being more liberal. Markey, 80, comfortably defeated Moulton, 47, with about 65 percent of the vote to Moulton’s 35 percent, according to the Associated Press. Moulton campaigned largely on generational change, acknowledging in a campaign ad that he and Markey “want the same things,” while moving to the right of Markey on healthcare. But Markey, who was in the House for 37 years before joining the Senate in 2013, has maintained solid approval ratings. He was also endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and many more labor unions and local officials, including the mayor of Boston. “Generational change isn’t about compromising, to do the small things better,” Markey said in his victory speech. “It’s about fighting to do the big things best.” Perhaps Tuesday’s outcome was foreshadowed six years ago, when Markey showed his electoral strength in a similar race. That year, he successfully ran to the left of primary challenger Joseph Kennedy III, 35 years his junior. That resulted in the Kennedy family’s first recorded loss at the ballot box in Massachusetts.