Progressive US Sen. Ed Markey, a champion of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, decisively fended off a Democratic primary challenge from his right on Tuesday, defeating Rep. Seth Moulton by nearly 30 percentage points in a contest that focused heavily on the incumbent senator's age.
Page A9From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 2 September 2026
Markey defeats Moulton in Massachusetts as Democrats choose leftism over youth, then call it a landslide
The receipts make plain that Senator Ed Markey's primary win over Seth Moulton is being spun as the party's embrace of 'leftism' over youth. Markey's victory is projected and reported as decisive, with the right framing it as a generational choice and the left celebrating a 'landslide.' The sequence here is classic: the narrative starts with age versus youth, but pivots instantly to ideology, then back to the size of the win. The rug-pull is that the party insists youth is the future, yet votes for the incumbent every time, and calls it progress. The column gap is that the same institutions selling generational change are cementing the old guard, and everyone on the ground knows the wallet doesn't move. The joke is not that Markey is old, but that the party frames the choice as youth, loses, then calls it a landslide for progress. The stakes are that this framing keeps the real agenda—money and power—out of reach. The receipts carry the gag all the way through: the defeat, the win, the framing, the celebration. And the voter, who keeps hearing it will be their turn, sees the turn go by again.
“They tell you the left's too old, then vote for Markey over the young guy. Next thing, it's a 'landslide,' so you can't call them out. The game isn't youth, it's keeping the wallet shut.”
“Look, the party chose Markey, so age must really be wisdom. If leftism means winning, then that's what we want. Did I say that? That doesn't sound like me. Anyway, youth will get their turn... eventually.”
The receipts
Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
The infighting inside the Democratic Party is more about ideology than a generational change in leadership. That’s one key takeaway from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), 80, winning his primary in a landslide over 47-year-old Rep.
Markey, an 80-year-old progressive, staved off a challenge by Rep. Seth Moulton, a 47-year-old member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.