A Sunday survey from Emerson College Polling showed Ed Markey ahead of Seth Moulton by 60% to 33% in the Democratic contest. Guardian US news reports that the result puts the 80-year-old incumbent in position to withstand a challenge centered on whether he is too old for another term. The vote on Tuesday comes as Democrats confront a broader dispute over the place of long-serving politicians in the party. Moulton, 47, has argued for a new generation of leaders, while Markey has presented his experience and progressive record as assets.
Markey first reached Congress in 1976 and became a senator in a 2013 special election, after John Kerry resigned to become US secretary of state. He is seeking to persuade voters that his age does not limit his ability to campaign or serve, and polls suggest he could remain in office until he is 86. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are among the prominent progressives who have endorsed Markey. In a televised debate, Markey emphasized his campaign activity and said Moulton struggled to match his pace.
Moulton countered that he had held over 50 town halls and accused Markey of missing three candidate forums in the past week. The candidates also clashed over artificial intelligence after Markey described using whatever applications appeared on his iPhone and iPad. Moulton used that exchange to argue that lawmakers regulating emerging technologies should understand the tools involved, and he has called for age limits in Congress. The younger candidate has taken more moderate positions than Markey on healthcare and transgender athletes, while stopping short of supporting the single-payer approach favored by his rival.
Moulton has also said he would not vote for Chuck Schumer as the Democrats’ Senate leader if elected; Schumer, 75, is presented in the campaign as part of an older establishment. Because the state is heavily Democratic, the party primary often determines who takes office. Spencer Kimball of Emerson College Polling said the numbers could resemble Markey’s late surge in 2020, when he defeated Joe Kennedy III despite Kennedy being 39 and backed by young progressives. A Markey victory would run against the backlash against elderly leaders described by critics as a gerontocracy, a debate also involving Joe Biden, Donald Trump, who is 80, and Mitch McConnell, 84.
Markey’s campaign has sought to turn the age issue into a message about experience and standing up to powerful opponents.