Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) thinks Democrats have an age problem. He’s making Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) the test case.
The six-term congressman shares political views with Markey, the fellow Democrat he’s challenging in a primary for Markey’s Senate seat. He’ll readily admit that. But Moulton thinks it’s time for some fresh blood in the party to take the reins, bring new energy, and connect with younger voters, even if their voting records look the same.
“It’s time for a new generation of leaders in the Democratic Party,” Moulton told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “With all due respect for Sen. Markey and his half-century in elected office, I believe it’s time for a generation of new leaders.”
Markey, 79, has been in elected office since 1973, starting in the Massachusetts legislature before winning a House seat in 1976 and arriving in the Senate via a 2013 special election. He has become a leading voice on energy issues, maintains solid approval ratings, and has locked down endorsements across the Democratic establishment.
Still, the race has become a flashpoint in the party’s broader reckoning about age and leadership. Former President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race over age concerns, only to see his vice president and replacement nominee, Kamala Harris, lose anyway.
Now Democrats are wrestling with what comes next, and nowhere is that fight playing out more clearly than in this Massachusetts primary.
“There’s probably no race in the entire country that epitomizes the debate about the future of our party than this race in Massachusetts,” Moulton said. “Are we going to double down on the establishment using the old playbook, or are we going to let a new generation of leaders take the Democratic Party forward?”
Challenging entrenched leadership isn’t new for Moulton. The 47-year-old Marine veteran, who served four tours in Iraq, first made waves by beating a nine-term incumbent in the 2014 Democratic primary for his House seat. Four years later, he helped lead a failed attempt to block Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from reclaiming the speaker’s gavel, part of a push for new leadership in the caucus.
“From when I first ran against the ninth-term incumbent in Congress, to setting up Serve America outside the party infrastructure, I’m not afraid to challenge the establishment,” Moulton said.
Now he’s taking that same approach to the Senate, though it is a steep climb. Markey successfully fended off political scion and former Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) in the 2020 Democratic primary with a simple message: “It’s not your time.” He then cruised to victory in the general election.
Moulton’s already drawing battle lines beyond just Markey. He’s vowing he won’t support current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to keep his job if elected.
“I’m not going to go to Washington and just vote for Chuck Schumer,” he said. “I think we need new leadership as a party from the top down.”
Pressed on who should replace Schumer, Moulton wouldn’t name names.
“I do have some thoughts on who should be the next Senate leader,” he said. “I’m not in the Senate right now, so I’ll keep those thoughts to myself for the moment.”
The generational argument extends beyond Massachusetts. Asked about the heated Democratic primary in Maine, where Democrat Graham Planter is challenging 77-year-old Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) for the right to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins, Moulton took a clear position: “Democrats need to be honest about the need for generational change and younger leaders to carry our party forward, not just in Massachusetts, but across the country.”
While Moulton admits he and Markey agree on most policies, he argues the difference is in how they get things done.
“Honestly, Sen. Markey and I agree on those policies, but I think we take a different approach on a number of things,” Moulton said. “I give Sen. Markey a lot of credit for saying the right thing and having good press releases, but we’ve actually got to get laws passed.”
He points to his work passing 988, the national mental health hotline, during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“It was not easy to get passed, but we did it in the minority under the first Trump administration, and it’s saving thousands of lives every month,” he said. He also pointed to his political operation, Serve America PAC, which he says flipped more than half the House seats Democrats won in 2018.
“If you’re a senator from a blue state, you should do more than just get yourself reelected,” he continued. “You should help Democrats win all across the country, which is exactly what I’ve done with Serve America.”
Beyond tactics, Moulton argues young voters see Senate leadership that’s out of touch with the world they’re inheriting.
“I think young voters look at Congress today, especially in the Senate, and just feel that our senators are totally out of touch with their reality,” he said. “It’s hard to look at Chuck Schumer and say he’s the one who’s going to figure out the future of [artificial intelligence]. You know, people in their 80s are going to figure out how to meet our education needs in an automated world?”
Moulton knows he’s the underdog, as recent polling shows Markey with a comfortable lead. But early fundraising suggests Moulton is at least competitive on money. He reported over $2 million in first-quarter fundraising with $3.1 million cash on hand, while Markey raised $780,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Still, Moulton said the reception on the trail has surprised him.
“Everywhere I go, people say, I like Sen. Markey. He’s a nice guy, but it’s time for a new generation of leaders,” he said.
On policy, Moulton’s rolling out what he calls “3 for 30,” declaring housing, healthcare, and education should be fundamental human rights in America. It’s his counter to “the insidious Project 2025.” That means banning private equity from buying single-family homes, creating a public healthcare option that President Barack Obama couldn’t get through Congress, and guaranteeing universal pre-K. He’d said he sees a path to fund it by closing tax loopholes and taxing wealth over $150 million.
“It’s crazy with the number of billionaires we have that so many Americans can’t afford these three basic human rights,” he said.
The framing is deliberately populist.
“There’s an America for the wealthy and the well-connected, who get all the perks of the actual loopholes and buy pardons with cryptocurrency from the president,” he said. “And then there’s the America for everyone else, where people are turning down their thermostats in the winter in New England because energy prices are so high and struggling to pay rent or buy a home.”
Despite Trump being back in the White House, Moulton thinks there’s room for bipartisan work.
He points to 988 and his work on legislation aimed at blocking congressional funding for ground operations in Venezuela as proof. He called Venezuela “Iraq 2.0” and thinks the latter could draw Republican support.
Moulton’s not alone in this bet. He pointed to recent Democratic gubernatorial wins by younger candidates such as Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, both veterans of his Serve America PAC.
“The common theme in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York is next-generation leaders who are not afraid to challenge the party establishment,” he said. “Because the party establishment has gotten us where we are with a second term of Trump.”
For Moulton, it’s personal, too.
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“I love being a dad. I’m focused on the future, not just because I’m younger, but because I’ve got two little kids, and I’m deeply concerned about the country and the planet that we’re leaving for them,” he said. “The current aging generation has got to take some responsibility for, frankly, failing to fix these things.”
Markey’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Juliegrace Brufke is a longtime Capitol Hill reporter.