Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
Page A5From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 2 September 2026
Markey defeats Moulton in landslide, progressives claim victory while establishment flexes dominance
The Massachusetts Senate primary gave Ed Markey a landslide victory over Seth Moulton, with progressive voices calling it a testament to their movement. But the receipts show the party establishment flexing its dominance, with insurgents falling and the GOP bench thinning, as reported by Fox News. This is the walk from receipts to power: the left gets the headline, but the old crew keeps the office. The insurgents are allowed to run, but the budget and appointments stay with the same hands. The landslide is a show, not a shift — the party’s power structure remains unchanged, and the only thing moving is the campaign poster. Every time the press calls it a win, the receipts remind you who signs the checks. The fold proves the paranoid middle voice right: the change is in the wording, not in the ledger. That’s the mechanism — the rug-pull, stated flat. The reader laughs, opens the fold, finds the same old faces, and the anger curdles. The stakes: the office, the budget, and the next round of checks.
“They call it a progressive win, but the old guard's got the keys and they're not handing them over. The insurgents get a headline, the establishment gets the office and the budget. The only landslide here is who still runs the place.”
“You see, this just proves democracy works—voters have a choice and the party is strong. The establishment keeping control is really a sign of stability. Wait, am I saying the insurgents didn’t matter? No, they mattered—they just didn’t win. Did I say that?”
The receipts
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.
Massachusetts Democrats rewarded Ed Markey, 80, over Seth Moulton in a generational clash after Moulton urged the party to "pass the torch."
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.