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Massachusetts Democrats rewarded incumbency in marquee primaries Tuesday, but the clearest message came in the state’s generational showdown, with 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey routing moderate Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, after Moulton argued it was time for the party to “pass the torch.”
Tuesday night’s results underscored Democratic dominance in the deep-blue state rather than a single ideological sweep. Voters backed established incumbents across the party’s factions and selected a Biden-Harris-backed former White House aide in the closely watched open-seat contest to take over Moulton’s House seat after he abandoned it to run for Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans failed to nominate House candidates in four districts — the first, second, fifth and seventh — while only fielding write-ins for the blue stronghold’s secretary of state race.
Markey’s victory over the more moderate Moulton, however, stood out as the night’s clearest win for the party’s progressive wing.
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“Its very clear that the dem voters care more about policies and having a progressive represent them in the senate, than age!,” controversial Twitch streamer and far-left activist Hasan Piker said after the Associated Press projected Markey would win. “Another w for our movement!”
Moulton highlighted the difficult battle he faced trying to unseat a longtime incumbent like Markey following his concession, but said the effort was not for nothing, noting “we started conversations that needed to happen” and adding that he is “confident … others will be inspired to buck the system when they’re told to wait their turn.”
Markey faced attacks during the campaign over his far-left positions, including his support for transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports, but the progressive bona fides of the Massachusetts lawmaker, who has represented the state in Congress for nearly five decades, were not a significant enough sticking point for voters to abandon him.
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“Ed Markey has spent decades fighting for LGBTQ+ equality, for working people, and for a more livable world,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Kelley Robinson following Markey’s win. “He knows why equality matters. He’s stood with us no matter what. We were proud to endorse him this year, and when a pro-equality majority takes back the Senate this fall, we will continue to count on him as a champion for our community.”
The incumbent success Markey saw carried into the House during Tuesday night’s Massachusetts primaries, where Reps. Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch fended off younger challengers, while Reps. Katherine Clark and Jake Auchincloss also advanced. The string of wins offered little evidence of broad anti-incumbent turbulence in the state’s Democratic delegation.
Massachusetts Democrats also picked former Biden White House aide Dan Koh to succeed Moulton in the open 6th Congressional District. Koh’s victory gives the delegation a new face, but it did not come at an incumbent’s expense as Moulton vacated the seat for his unsuccessful Senate bid, creating the district’s first open-seat contest without an incumbent on the ballot in decades.
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Massachusetts Republicans, meanwhile, failed to field nominees in several House districts, including the Boston-area 7th District, leaving Democrats such as Rep. Ayanna Pressley without GOP opposition in November. Pressley ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.
Republicans will still have a statewide standard-bearer in November after businessman Michael Minogue defeated Brian Shortsleeve for the GOP gubernatorial nomination and advanced to face Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who won her primary unopposed Tuesday night.
The GOP also nominated House candidates in five of the state’s nine districts: the third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth.
The most notable is the open 6th District, where Republican Micah Quinney Jones will face Koh, who was backed by former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, alongside several other alumni of the Biden administration. The support gave Koh a powerful establishment coalition in the crowded contest to succeed Moulton.
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Following Koh’s win, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin congratulated the former Biden administration aide.
“From Boston City Hall and the U.S. Department of Labor to the White House, Dan Koh has dedicated his life to public service and ensuring government actually delivers for working families. He is a Massachusetts native who knows how to bring people together to solve problems and fight for our communities,” Martin said in a statement. “In Congress, Dan will prioritize bringing down costs, protecting healthcare, making housing more affordable, strengthening workers’ rights, rooting out corruption, and holding Donald Trump accountable. The DNC is ready to work alongside him to make life more affordable for people throughout Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District.”
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