In a few short months, Massachusetts voters will head to the polls to cast their vote for U.S. senator. Incumbent Senator Ed Markey faces off against a younger challenger once again in Seth Moulton, a congressman from Salem, who will attempt to unseat the 79-year-old in the September Democratic primary.
According to a poll from the University of New Hampshire, Markey leads Moulton by 13%, pulling 46% of the vote compared to Moulton’s 33%. Markey, a Malden native, was elected to the House in 1976 and has served in the Senate since 2013. He would be 86 by the end of his third Senate term.
Markey has collected endorsements from key progressive voices, including the Sunrise Movement, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Voters of Tomorrow. Moulton is endorsed by VoteVets and received an endorsement from the Massachusetts Teamsters, a coalition of unions.
Massachusetts voters at the University of Massachusetts brought up several main themes, with affordability, the environment and social justice issues as being important to their choice at the polls.
Clark Thakuria, a senior political science and communications major from Arlington, will vote for Markey because he believes Markey is a proven leader. Thakuria says that having someone who fights for issues he agrees with, such as Medicare for all, the Green New Deal and reducing student debt, is more important than the age of the leader.
“I think because he’s been so consistent with those views and has shown that he is a fighter for these views — that is why he has earned my vote yet again, because I think he will continue to do that even as he doesn’t have as much energy as before,” Thakuria said.
Tanvi Bokkisam, a freshman social thought and political economy (STPEC) major from Acton, is also voting for Markey, citing her qualms with Moulton’s stances on Israel and trans people. She said that it is important for a candidate to oppose the Trump administration, be independent and look out for the public’s best interest.
“We have checks and balances in our government, but they only work when our candidates actually use the checks. So, we need candidates who are outspoken and are willing to fight the Trump administration,” Bokkisam said.
Brayden Moore, a junior political science and communications major, is from Milford and is the co-chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UMass. He plans on voting for Markey. Moore attended the UMass Democrats’ town hall featuring Moulton last November and said that he wasn’t a fan of what Moulton had to say, especially when it came to Palestine. Moore recalled his discontent with Moulton in not specifying why he wouldn’t call Gaza a genocide. He also disagreed with Moulton’s controversial statements on trans people.
“I think that he moves like the wind of wherever political direction will take him,” Moore said. “I think for now he’s realizing he needs to be more left-leaning. He’s going to take that opportunity. If the country was more right-leaning at this point, he would be more right-leaning. I don’t like that. I think you need to stand for something, even if it’s not something I agree with.”
Despite Markey’s age, Moore said that the senator has done a good job and has a team with him to push a progressive agenda, which resonated with him as a democratic socialist.
Markey is appealing to young voters by centering them. At a virtual town hall hosted by various student groups, including Sunrise, Voters of Tomorrow, College Democrats of Massachusetts and High School Democrats of Massachusetts, he called young people the “leaders of today, not tomorrow.”
During the town hall, he answered questions from students, touching on issues like climate change and the need for clean energy, as well as education reform and student loan forgiveness. He also touched on artificial intelligence — “we have to have this discussion now,” he said when asked about AI — something he says he is at the forefront of as a senator with a civil rights AI act cosponsored by Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
Although, Moulton still says that Markey taking the stand on current issues is not enough.
“The reality is that if you want change to be long and enduring, then it’s not enough just to scream from your side of the aisle. You have to roll up your sleeves and actually get things done. And it is a reality that effectiveness often declines with age,” Moulton said.
He pointed to recent Democratic wins across the country like the elections of Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherill and Zohran Mamdani.
“None of that came from the Democratic Party establishment. It didn’t come from Chuck Schumer. It didn’t come from the 80 year-olds running the Senate. It’s all next generation leaders who are in touch with the people we represent. And I think Massachusetts deserves that kind of leadership in the Senate as well,” Moulton said.
Coleman Smith-Rakoff, a sophomore political science and legal studies major from Ipswich, thinks that a consistent and inspirational leader is important. Smith-Rakoff has bumped into Moulton at the grocery store before and says that it’s important for a candidate to be “measured in rhetoric and policy.”
He added that the reality of public servants’ lives is hard and it’s difficult for them to lead after such a long time, referencing Markey’s long tenure. Smith-Rakoff compared politics to a pendulum swinging fast and far, saying that he wants a candidate that is firm in their beliefs.
Gael Muchnik, a sophomore political science and psychology major from Beverly, is interning for Seth Moulton this summer.
Coming from a town within Moulton’s current congressional district, Muchnik feels familiar with his representative. While Ed Markey has been a good senator, he says it is time for a new voice.
“Maybe the most important thing for the Democratic Party is to acknowledge their failures,” Muchnik said. “To have the mental strength and fortitude and the capacity to kind of separate from the more traditional elitist Democratic conception, and I think that would look like being willing to maybe compromise on some of these points.”
He added that he wanted a candidate who would be less divisive. “I think that our country is so polarized. I want someone who can bring the people together. And I think that in order to achieve that, I think that the candidate needs to be honest, not as calculated and speak from the heart,” Muchnik said.
As a young voter, Muchnik also says that economic security is important to him, and wants a candidate who brings stability and resources for students who are looking to graduate and head into the workforce.
Moulton says he will deliver that. “One of the reasons that on a personal level, that I’m running for Senate is because I’m very concerned about the world we’re going to leave my kids,” Moulton said. “My kids are five and seven years old. And so, I think about not just the next six years, but the next hundred. And that’s the approach that I take to my work in Congress every day.”
“I’m someone who’s been a fighter my entire life … I think we’re going to take down Trump more effectively by showing the next generation of Democrats who are willing to take him to the mat, but also lead the way forward,” Moulton said.
Grace Chai can be reached at [email protected].
