By Jim Ellis — Monday, Oct. 20, 2025
Seante
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem)
Though recent political stories have indicated that this race might come to fruition, it is still a surprising move. The challenge from Rep. Moulton’s perspective appears to be a long shot considering Sen. Markey dispatched a member of the Kennedy family in the 2020 Democratic primary with a decisive margin in come-from-behind fashion.
The Massachusetts primary is not until Sept. 1 of next year, so much time remains for this campaign to develop, but Rep. Moulton begins in a severe underdog position. The Congressman, with his strong military background, is known as a more moderate member and one who was even drawing his own congressional seat primary opposition because he defied his party’s position on the men in women’s sports issue after his daughters found themselves facing transgender athletic opponents.
Attempting to move left, Moulton immediately after announcing for the Senate rejected the support and money given to him from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) even though he has been a supporter of the group during his entire tenure in the House.
Running in a closed Democratic primary from one of the party’s strongest states that has repeatedly elected liberal Senate stalwarts such as Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Elizabeth Warren, and now Markey, the Moulton victory path appears very narrow. In an open primary, he might draw crossover Republican and Independent votes to neutralize the hard left faction within the Massachusetts Democratic Party, but without such an option Moulton could soon find his task overwhelming.
In 2020, Sen. Markey faced a similar primary challenge from then-Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, III. In that election, Sen. Markey trailed in early polling but used his veteran political experience to build a winning coalition. In the end, he scored a 55-45 percent victory over a member of the Kennedy family in their home state.
In that 2020 race, the Markey strategy revolved around drawing on his years of experience and coalition building particularly through the climate change issue of which he was a national leader and spokesman. He was even able to recruit Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) to come to Massachusetts to campaign for him since Markey was her climate change counterpart in the Senate. Against Rep. Moulton, Sen. Markey will again reconstruct his ideological coalition, which should translate into another victory.
In Democratic primaries around the country, we are already seeing younger politicians challenging veteran incumbents and using the age issue as a contrast point. We can expect Rep. Moulton, who is 47 years old, to draw the generational contrast with Sen. Markey since he would be 86 years old if he secures and finishes another term. At this point, however, it appears ideology will top age.
Sen. Markey is far from being a Massachusetts political novice. He was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1972 and won his congressional seat in 1976. He would stay in the House until then-Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) was appointed US Secretary of State in the second Obama Administration. Rep. Markey entered the special US Senate election and his effort proved victorious in 2013.
Rep. Moulton will leave his 6th Congressional District seat open in the 2026 election, and already three Democrats have said they will run. Former state Rep. Jamie Belsito, ex-Andover Selectman and 2018 3rd District congressional candidate Dan Koh, and attorney Kevin Larivee all announced their congressional bids.
The MA-6 open means there are currently 35 such seats headed into the next election. Of those, two are headed to special elections: TN-7 on December 2nd and TX-18 concurrent with the municipal election day of Nov. 4. From the 35, a total of 21 seats are currently Republican held and Democrats are risking 11, while three new seats were created from the Texas redistricting map.