With age being at the center of the upcoming campaign, Senator Ed Markey will be 80 when the next election happens and 86 at the end of his term if re-elected.
Markey has been in Washington for almost 50 yeras.
Congressman Seth Moulton is 46 and was first elected just over 10 years ago. The six-term congressman said in his campaign announcement that democrats have “clung to the status quo.”
“The next generation will keep paying the cost if we don’t change course. This isn’t a fight we can put off for another six years. The future we all believe in is on the line. We’re in a crisis. And with everything we learned in the last election, I just don’t believe Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old,” Moulton said.
Markey is currently the longest serving democrat in congress. The Malden native was elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 and served for 37 years before joining the senate in 2013. In the 2020 election, Markey fended off a challenge by then congressman Joe Kennedy III.
Moulton enlisted in the Marines after the September 11 attacks and served four tours of duty in Iraq. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently represents the sixth district in Massachusetts.
Moulton also campaigned for president in 2020. 7NEWS spoke to the congressman and he argues it’s time for a new generation of leadership.
“It’s not just about age, although I do think that someone who’s been in elected office for half a century, longer than I’ve been alive, is not really investing in the future, with all due respect to him and his decades of service,” Moulton said. “But it’s also about actually coming through and delivering, and I think that’s an important distinction is this race.”
In response to Moulton’s campaign announcement, Markey released a statement, saying, “While Congressman Moulton is launching a political campaign during a government shutdown, Senator Markey is doing his job—voting against Trump’s extremist agenda and working to stop the MAGA attacks on health care so that we can reopen the government.”
The primary is set for September 1, 2026.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
