Ed Markey wards off Senate primary challenger in Massachusetts

In the House, Dan Koh won the Democratic nod in the crowded 6th District race, while longtime incumbent Stephen Lynch beat out a progressive challenger in the 8th District.(CN) — Ed Markey is poised to hold onto his seat in the U.S. Senate after winning Massachusetts’ Democratic primary on Tuesday.The progressive incumbent beat back a challenge from Seth Moulton, a congressman from the state’s 6th District who sought to unseat Markey by claiming the 80-year-old was too old.But the argument fell flat for state voters. Markey easily defeated his 47-year-old opponent by roughly 30 percentage points. Markey had more than 571,000 votes to Moulton’s 308,000 Wednesday morning.Moulton’s concession speech came just an hour after polls closed.“I just called Senator Markey to congratulate him on his victory tonight,” Moulton told supporters. “He has my full support as our Democratic nominee and we must stand united this November to protect our democracy and defeat Donald Trump.”Raymond La Raja, political science professor and pollster at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said Markey’s dominance was no shock.“He was favored across all groups as far as we can tell,” La Raja said. “In our poll, it showed he had high approval among women, even among men, certainly among progressives and young people.”Moulton had an uphill battle. Markey is a beloved member of the northeastern progressive movement. He was the Senate author of the Green New Deal and one of 16 senators to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders’ 2017 Medicare for All Act. He flexed endorsements from popular leftists like Sanders, fellow U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley.Moulton was perceived as more centrist, but his campaign was more about optics than specific issues, La Raja said. Moulton railed against Markey’s age — he will be 86 at the end of the next Senate term — and made a largely unsuccessful effort to tie Markey to disgraced pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.Playing into his youthfulness was a potentially strength for Moulton with Democrats still reeling from Joe Biden’s disastrous exit from the 2024 presidential race. But Markey downplayed concerns, assuring voters he’s “the most energized I’ve ever been.” He also never racked up the highlight reel of gaffes that plagued Biden’s presidency and reelection campaign.“The new blood argument didn’t really work,” La Raja said of Moulton. “I think he needed to add something to his argument, especially because he was perceived as the more moderate candidate. Most of these insurgencies that work for young people come from the left.”Markey gave a nod to those voters in his victory speech.“Tonight is a testament to the power of the progressive movement of our nation,” he said. “It is a progressive movement fueled by young people demanding more from their leaders and it’s your voices that we need to hear right now. Your leadership will show us the way.”In November’s general election, Markey faces attorney and cryptocurrency advocate John Deaton, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. But in one of the bluest states in the country, Markey’s victory is all but assured.In the HouseMoulton gave up his seat representing Massachusetts’ 6th District to challenge Markey, paving the way for a crowded field of six congressional hopefuls.Dan Koh won with more than 41% of the vote as of Wednesday morning, more than 10 points higher than second-place finisher Tram Nguyen.Koh, a 41-year-old Harvard graduate, was the apparent frontrunner. Before he served as deputy assistant to Biden, he was chief of staff for former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. His father, a physician, was a high-ranking official in President Barack Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services.He won endorsements from Biden, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, among other Democratic mainstays, and was dominant in fundraising.His resume embodies the district, which encompasses the northeast tip of the state. MA-06 is educated and wealthy, skewing progressive without being anti-establishment.“He had money to get his name out there right from the get-go,” La Raja said. “There were a lot of progressives in that race, more people from the left. He kind of had that left-liberal Biden-Harris lane.”Koh’s general election challenger will be Republican lawyer Micah Jones.Downstate in the 8th District, longtime incumbent Stephen Lynch fended off a challenge from progressive attorney Patrick Roath. It was close — Lynch was leading by about 10 points Wednesday morning.FILE - Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., speaks during a news conference on Feb. 18, 2026, in New Albany, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)Lynch, who has held his set for more than two decades, is perhaps the most conservative member of the state’s delegation. A throwback to union Democrats of old, La Raja said Lynch still appeals to working-class voters in Boston’s south suburbs.“There are more independent types there in that district,” La Raja said, calling Lynch “the original old-school Irish Democrat.”Roath mounted a competitive campaign by flanking Lynch from the left. He criticized Lynch’s pattern of breaking with Democrats on key legislation, like voting against Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Last year, Lynch was the state’s only congressional member to vote for Trump’s Laken Riley Act, which gives federal immigration authorities more latitude to detain immigrants.“A lot of progressives have been wanting to push him out for a long time,” La Raja said.Independent voters may have helped Lynch survive the challenge. Massachusetts has a unique semi-closed primary system that allows independents, who skew centrist, to vote for Democratic nominees. That favors middle-of-the road candidates with independent appeal.Lynch will face off against Republican videographer Robert Burke in November.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads