Moulton announces bid for Senate in Massachusetts

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) on Wednesday launched a U.S. Senate bid in Massachusetts, setting up a generational challenge as he looks to unseat incumbent progressive Sen. Ed Markey (D).

Moulton, a moderate 46-year-old veteran, focused on age in his announcement video, saying his party has “clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn’t fighting hard enough.”

“We’re in a crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Sen. Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old. Even more, 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 in his video.

“Sen. Markey is a good man, but it’s time for a new generation of leadership, and that’s why I’m running for US Senate,” he continued.

Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq, said he would focus his campaign on the affordability crisis, universal health care, banning assault weapons, fighting climate change and protecting democracy.

“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,” he said in the video.

Moulton was first elected in 2014 and ran unopposed last year. He wouldn’t be the first person to try to unseat Markey by making age a core focus. Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) ran an unsuccessful bid to unseat Markey in the 2020 Senate primary.

Moulton ran for president in the 2020 campaign but dropped out after failing to gain traction.

Updated at 9:12 a.m. EDT