Moulton called for a ‘new generation of leadership’ when he announced his bid for Senate.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton announced he will challenge Sen. Edward Markey for the Democratic nomination in next year’s Senate race for Massachusetts.
“With everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old,” Moulton said in his announcement video posted on X on Oct. 15.
Moulton, 46, highlighted previous age concerns in the Democratic party, alluding to the 2024 presidential election, when concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office led to his exit from the race against then-former President Donald Trump.
Moulton did not name Biden directly.
“I don’t think someone who’s been in Congress for half a century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future,” Moulton said.
“Senator Markey’s a good man, but it’s time for a new generation of leadership, and that’s why I’m running for U.S. Senate.”
Moulton was first elected to Congress in 2014 and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
“Our party has clung to the status quo and insisted on using the same old playbook and isn’t fighting hard enough,” Moulton said.
Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine, concluded his announcement video showing himself sitting on a chair, looking in the mirror, and demanding a change in his party.
“Real people across Massachusetts are being hurt by Democratic leaders refusing to do everything they can to win,” Moulton said. “We’ve got to look in the mirror and be honest. It’s time for change.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Markey’s team for comment.
This isn’t the first time a politician decades younger than Markey tried to unseat him.
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who was 39 at the time, attempted to primary Markey in 2020 and was defeated.
Markey won 55.2 percent of the vote, according to election results.
It was the first time a member of America’s most famous political family lost a race for Congress in Massachusetts.
Markey, who is a ranking member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976.
By Jacki Thrapp
