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<\/a><\/p>\nSenator Ed Markey addresses his supporters during a \u2018Power to the People\u2019 rally at the IBEW Local 103 facility on August 29, 2026. (Craig F. Walker\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Associated Press called the race just a half hour after polls closed, at 8:31 p.m. By Wednesday morning, with 96% of the vote counted, according to AP, Markey had secured 64.9% of votes to Moulton\u2019s 35.1%. <\/p>\n
\u201cTonight is a testament to the power of the progressive movement,\u201d Markey said in his victory speech Tuesday. \u201cIt is a progressive movement fueled by young people demanding more from their leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Markey focused primarily on domestic issues in his remarks but briefly mentioned the Middle East. \u201cWe need to end the war in Iran, and stop the bombing in Gaza,\u201d Markey said. \u201cWe need to slash the Pentagon budget.\u201d <\/p>\n
Noting that he spoke to Moulton prior to taking the stage, Markey added that he looks forward to working together \u201cto build a better future for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moulton, meanwhile, told his supporters that he had \u201ccalled Sen. Markey to congratulate him on his victory tonight.\u201d He conveyed his \u201cfull support\u201d for his opponent as the Democratic nominee, stressing that they \u201cmust stand united this November to protect our democracy and defeat Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
Markey, 80, began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives 50 years ago and remained there until he was elected to fill the Senate seat of John Kerry, who was appointed U.S. Secretary of State in 2013. During Markey\u2019s time in the House, he was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and in the Senate, he has supported multiple resolutions aimed at cutting military aid and munitions sales to Israel. <\/p>\n
Moulton, 47, was born two years after Markey arrived on Capitol Hill. He has been serving in the U.S. House since 2015 and has opposed both the Democratic socialist agenda and the aging establishment, instead calling for \u201cnew energy, new ideas and leaders willing to put people over politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ran a race that stood on principle, that wasn\u2019t just about politics as usual, and that elevated the voices of Massachusetts citizens who have been left behind by the status quo in Washington,\u201d Moulton said on Tuesday. \u201cChallenging the establishment and calling for a new generation of leadership isn\u2019t easy, but it is necessary,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Many political analysts have suggested that Moulton\u2019s predominant focus on his youth and his opponent\u2019s age may have been his primary downfall. Although in the weeks leading up the primary, polls had projected Markey\u2019s win, the two candidates had been running neck-and-neck in the preceding months. <\/p>\n
A New York Times opinion piece recently described Moulton as a \u201crebel without a cause\u201d who drifted with \u201cthe political winds\u201d and focused on platforms he was fighting against rather than those he was supporting.<\/p>\n
Moulton was an early moderate Democrat to reject AIPAC funding. He declared in October that he was \u201creturning AIPAC donations\u201d and refusing new funds from the pro-Israel lobby. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent years AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu\u2019s government,\u201d Moulton posted at the time. \u201cI\u2019m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Track AIPAC, a group that documents political spending by pro-Israel lobbies, reported that such PACs have spent about $101,500 on Moulton over his career \u2014 a relatively modest amount for a six-term congressman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clearly the safe thing to do, if you are running for a nomination in the Democratic Party, to aggressively distance yourself from Israel,\u201d Jeff Robbins, a Boston-based attorney and former Senate investigative counsel, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. <\/p>\n
Robbins, who also served as delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission under President Bill Clinton, described the shift as \u201creflective of the reality that we have seen play out in spades over the last year.\u201d <\/p>\n
That situation involves Democratic candidates \u201crunning for the hills about AIPAC and treating it as a boogeyman,\u201d added Robbins, who began organizing pro-Israel rallies in in 2012, while chairing the New England Board of the Anti-Defamation League. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to have a prayer of being elected in a Democratic primary in this country, you had better be able to say, \u2018I don\u2019t take money from AIPAC. In fact, I never heard of it before,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n