Veteran Democrats defeat younger challengers in Massachusetts primary elections

Veteran Democrats defeated younger challengers in Massachusetts’s primary elections on Tuesday, with Senator Ed Markey beating Representative Seth Moulton for the Democratic nomination.

Long-serving representatives Stephen Lynch and Richard Neal also won their races.

Here are five key takeaways from the Massachusetts primary election results.

Veteran Democrats survive challenges from younger rivals

Several of Massachusetts’s longest-serving Democrats survived challenges in Tuesday’s primaries.

Senator Ed Markey, 80, defeated 47-year-old Representative Seth Moulton to secure the Democratic nomination.

Similar challenges also failed in the House. Representative Stephen Lynch, 71, who has held his seat since 2001, defeated 39-year-old progressive lawyer Patrick Roath in the 8th Congressional District.

In the 1st District, 77-year-old Representative Richard Neal, first elected to Congress in 1988, defeated 39-year-old public school teacher Jeromie Whalen.

All three will now advance to November, with Democrats heavily favoured in Massachusetts.

Markey wins the progressive argument despite his age

Moulton campaigned on the need for a new generation of political leadership, but Markey’s age did not appear to work against him.

Markey, 33 years older than Moulton, ran as the more progressive candidate, with backing from prominent figures on the Democratic left, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

Markey also had the backing of Senator Elizabeth Warren and other members of the state’s congressional delegation, while no member of the delegation endorsed Moulton.

Moulton, a Marine veteran who ran as the more moderate alternative, instead received support from groups including VoteVets and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill.

Markey also repeatedly attacked Moulton over his comments questioning transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports. Moulton later apologised and said he supported the transgender community, but Markey continued to raise the issue during the campaign.

“If you’re in the trans community or you’re a trans kid feeling the weight of the Trump administration and the Supreme Court, you matter,” Moulton said during an August debate. “You’re valued, and I will always have your back.”

However, the opposite dynamic played out in the 8th District, where the younger Roath — unsuccessfully — challenged Lynch from the left.

The results showed that age and ideology did not necessarily go hand in hand in Massachusetts.

“Generational change isn’t about compromising, to do the small things better,” Markey said Tuesday. “It’s about fighting to do the big things best.”

In a concession speech, Moulton said he would now support Markey.

“Challenging the establishment and calling for a new generation of leadership isn’t easy. But it is necessary,” Moulton told supporters. “We started conversations that needed to happen.”

Progressive challengers make gains but fall short

While younger challengers failed to defeat the state’s veteran Democrats, some still mounted competitive campaigns.

Roath raised about $1.3m compared with roughly $910,000 for Lynch, despite taking on a congressman who has represented the area for more than two decades.

He also significantly narrowed the gap during the campaign. Lynch led Roath by 26 points in a February poll, but by the final stretch of the campaign, his lead had narrowed to seven points.

But Roath ultimately fell short against Lynch.

Whalen also challenged Neal from the left in the 1st District, campaigning on progressive policies including Medicare for All, but fell short against the veteran congressman.

Massachusetts bucks the national trend

The Massachusetts results differed from several Democratic primaries elsewhere in the country, where younger progressive candidates have defeated long-serving politicians.

In Connecticut last month, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin defeated Representative John Larson, 78, who had served in Congress for nearly three decades.

In June, 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeated Representative Diana DeGette, who had represented her Colorado district for nearly 30 years.

That came a week after two Democratic members of Congress were defeated by left-wing challengers in New York, including five-term Representative Adriano Espaillat.

In Massachusetts, all three major challenges to long-serving lawmakers failed.

But the results were not necessarily a rejection of progressive politics. Markey himself ran from the party’s progressive wing, while Lynch and Neal faced younger candidates running to their left.

Instead, the common factor was the strength of long-serving politicians, regardless of whether their challengers came from the centre or the left.

Biden-backed Dan Koh wins primary for open House seat

Former Biden White House aide Koh won the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District, the seat being vacated by Seth Moulton as he ran for Senate.

Koh stood out in the five-way race for openly embracing the former Biden administration. He was endorsed by former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as former Labor Secretary and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Koh will now head into November as the favourite to win the heavily Democratic district.

Democratic primaries may have decided the races

In heavily Democratic Massachusetts, the primaries may prove to be the biggest electoral hurdle, with Democratic winners heavily favoured to prevail in November’s general election.

Markey will face Republican John Deaton, who ran unopposed in his primary on Tuesday. Deaton previously ran for the Senate against Elizabeth Warren in 2024, losing by about 20 percentage points.

The Democratic nominees in several House districts will also head into November as heavy favourites, meaning Tuesday’s results could in effect determine much of the state’s congressional delegation for the next term.